Central, Grinnell get men’s soccer OT draw

Central College

GRINNELL — Extended to a couple of overtime periods on a warm afternoon on the road a few short hours after a hard-fought loss the previous evening, the Central College men’s soccer team came away with a 2-2 draw at Grinnell College Sunday afternoon.

Grinnell (1-0-1) forced the overtime with a goal in the 75th minute but the Dutch (0-1-1) briefly thought they had the gamewinner in the 108th minute. A delayed foul call erased the apparent goal and neither team was able to convert the rest of the way.

After Grinnell took the lead just 9 minutes in, Central midfielder Matt Woodcock (senior, West Des Moines, Valley HS) answered in the 14th minute, getting an assist from midfielder Daniel Peacock (junior, Ankeny). The Dutch moved on top just 9 minutes later when midfielder Brandon Bautista (senior, St. Charles, Ill., North HS) delivered an unassisted goal. But Central was scoreless the rest of the way.

“I was very pleased with the way we responded to them going up on us,” coach Garry Laidlaw said. “I thought that showed something with a young team.”

The Dutch held a 16-10 shot advantage. But Laidlaw said the strain of playing back-to-back games was evident. Central held a 9-1 shot advantage in the first half while Grinnell had a 6-3 edge in the second half.

“We really struggled in the second half,” Laidlaw said. “We had to sub a lot. We used about every player on the roster but we were able to get good minutes from all of them.”

And the Dutch persevered in the overtime, when they held a 4-3 shot advantage.

“That says a lot,” Laidlaw said. “I thought in the overtime the guys realized it’s only two 10s (10-minute periods) and they just had to dig deep to find that little extra.”

Central goalkeeper Travis Yets (junior, Bettendorf) made one save.

“Both of the (Grinnell) goals were on very good shots,” Laidlaw said. “There wasn’t a lot he could do about either one of them.”

Laidlaw was also happy with his team’s defensive effort, led by Gary Sorich (senior, Downers Grove, Ill., Lemont HS).

“I thought Gary Sorich was outstanding in the back,” he said. “He played 90 minutes or more two days in a row. He had six or seven one-on-one tackles. What a great job of leading he’s doing.”

Laidlaw also singled out defender Brian Fyfe (sophomore, Clear Lake), who filled in capably for Jeremy Dolder (freshman, Iowa City, West HS).

Central continues its flurry of action by playing host to Augustana College (Ill.) Tuesday at 5 p.m. at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex field. Augustana is 0-1 after a 4-1 loss to defending national runner-up Calvin College (Mich.) in a neutral-site game Friday night in Bloomington, Ill. It’s a veteran Vikings squad with eight starters back from a 13-6 team that cracked the top 10 of the NCAA Division III Midwest Region rankings.

“They’re a solid team in a very good league,” Laidlaw said. “We have always had good, tough matches with them and expect more of the same.”

Central and Augustana last met in 2010 in Rock Island, Ill. when the Dutch scored a 1-0 win that gave them a 4-3 edge in the teams’ all-time series. Tuesday’s contest is part of a stretch that sees Central play five games in eight days. It’s also the start of a four-game homestand.

“It’s not ideal, but it’s the way the schedule worked out,” Laidlaw said. “It’s college soccer. It comes with the territory.”

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