Philip Charnley

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster's men's soccer team had been knocking on the door throughout the entire game, and with less than two minutes to go in regulation, they broke through, as Philip Charnley booted in the game-winner in the 89th minute to give the Fighting Scots a dramatic 1-0 victory over Allegheny College on Tuesday evening in North Coast Athletic Conference action at John P. Papp Stadium.

The Scots (3-9-1, 1-5-0 NCAC) peppered Allegheny (7-5-3, 2-3-1 NCAC) with 19 shots, including several that nearly put them on the scoreboard, but as the second half began to wind down, the game remained scoreless and appeared destined to reach overtime.

It was then that Charnley provided the heroics, as Alex Hopkins sent a corner kick into the box, Aleksi Pelkonen received the ball and settled it, and Charnley blasted a shot past the goalkeeper to give Wooster a one-goal lead at the 88:22-mark, which it hung onto to pick up its first conference win of the season.

The margin of victory could have been much greater, as the Scots had several memorable scoring chances that just missed the mark. About midway through the first half, George Skelly had the ball on the right wing, and then beat his defender to the inside and rifled a strong left-footed shot, but the 'keeper made a tough save. Noah Wagemann was there to attempt a rebound shot, but his shot rattled the crossbar, and then a second rebound shot, this time by Charnley, was swallowed up by goalie.

Another near-miss came early in the second half, when CJ Polak drilled a free kick from 30 yards out that forced the 'keeper to make a diving save to his left.

Matthew Canter and Aaron McKee combined on the shutout in goal, each playing 45 minutes and making one save. The two keepers also were part of the "Senior Night" celebration prior to the game, which also recognized Norman Chamusah, Adam Hansell, Luke Koniarczyk, Matt Naticchia, Liam Pender, Skelly, and Wagemann, in the final home soccer game of their careers.

The Scots will look to carry this positive momentum over into a clash with archrival Wittenberg University (5-10-1, 1-4-1 NCAC) on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in Springfield, Ohio.