Concord Defeats Chowan in Overtime, 4-3

BECKLEY, W.Va- The Concord University men's soccer team used a late goal from freshman forward Sam Ashton to defeat Chowan University 4-3 in non-conference action at the YMCA Paul Cline Memorial Complex on Wednesday afternoon. 

CU improves to 4-4 on the season, while Chowan falls to 4-4-1 on the year. 

After just four shots through the first 20 minutes of play, the action started to pick up at the 24:32 mark when a player from Chowan was brought down in the box by a Concord defender. Terell Williamson dispatched the ensuing penalty kick to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. 

Concord equalized at the 31:15 mark when junior midfielder Max Simpson curled a free kick from approximately 40 yards out that was headed in off of the underside of the crossbar by freshman midfielder Yacouba Issa Traore to level the score at 1-1. 

Chowan answered back right before the half at the 38:08 minute mark when Lee Wattam scored on an assist from Swann Vincent to make the score 2-1 in favor of Chowan.

At the start of the second half, Concord started strong as Ashton found space inside the box to fire off of a low shot that was blocked by the Chowan defense.  The ball found its way back to the feet of Ashton, who quickly fired another shot that was blocked off the line by the hand of a Chowan defender, who received a red card. 

The subsequent penalty kick for Concord was saved by Chowan's Carlos Ramirez to preserve the one-goal lead.

Concord capitalized on the numerical advantage just eight minutes later as Ashton once again found himself in the penalty area.  The Hampshire, England native cut down towards the end line past a Chowan defender and fired in a shot from the left side of the box to even the score at two.

 It would take less than two minutes for Concord to gain the lead for the first time, after Issa Traore maneuvered his way in between two defenders at the top of the box before firing a low shot with his left foot into the bottom right hand corner for his second goal of the game.

However, the Hawks responded once again as Lee Wattam fired a free kick that was initially saved by sophomore goalkeeper Michael Adedigba.  The rebound fell kindly to the feet of Octavio Espino, who tapped home the ball to level the game at three apiece. 
 
Neither team could find a fourth goal in regulation.

The Mountain Lions broke through with the winning goal after Traore fired a pass in the direction of Simpson in the middle of the field. Simpson cleverly let the ball run by him to find an onrushing Rhodes down the left wing.  Rhodes delivered a low cross at the top of the box that found the feet of freshman midfielder Josh Mattson.  Mattson made the extra pass to tee up Ashton at the right side of the box, who rifled his shot into the lower left corner to end the game at the 96:11 mark. 

Ashton's two goals now give him four for the season, while Traore's pair of scores brings his season total to three. Simpson collected his third assist of the season, while Rhodes added his second assist of the year.

The Mountain Lions return to action on Saturday when they travel to take on the MEC leader Notre Dame College.  Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.