The Oglethorpe men's soccer team found itself in a tight, hard-fought battle against the visiting Centre Colonels Friday evening at the Oglethorpe Track and Field, and wound up with a 1-1 draw after 110 minutes. The Stormy Petrels fell behind late in the first half, but mounted a stirring late comeback to tie the score after a spectacular bicycle-kick goal from senior forward Devon Patterson, earning them a point in the standings in their SAA opener.

With his team down 1-0 in the final five minutes of the game, Patterson scored easily the goal of the season so far, and perhaps one of the most spectacular goals in Oglethorpe soccer history, when he took a cross from senior midfielder Josh Hoeft and delivered a perfectly executed bicycle kick, smashing the ball into the upper-right corner of the net. Centre goalkeeper Bailey Spade could do nothing but helplessly stand by and watch it sail into his net for an 87th minute goal that deadlocked the score, 1-1.

The Petrels largely had the better of the chances over the 20 minutes of overtime, firing a total of five shots to Centre's single effort. They had perhaps their best chance of overtime on their first foray into the attacking third, as Alvarez fired a blistering shot from the goalkeeper's left in the 91st minute that went just over the crossbar. Spade was forced to make a save to preserve the tie in the 96th minute, as well.

For awhile, it looked as though the Petrels might not have anything to show for what had been a very good performance against the visiting Centre Colonels. The Petrels outshot them 23-13 for the game, including a 6-4 advantage in shots on goal. That also included a 10-6 shot count in the first half. It was Centre who drew first blood, however, finishing a chance on a loose ball in the box in the 44th minute and taking a 1-0 lead.

Senior goalkeeper Luke Whelan finished with three saves on the evening. Junior midfielder Topher Marshall fired six shots and put two on target, while sophomore forward Gabriel Alvarez unleashed five total shots. Hoeft and junior midfielder Nash Wagnon put up three apiece.

"That was a pretty special goal for Devon, probably the goal of a lifetime," said Oglethorpe head coach Jon Akin. "Overall, I thought we were all over them in stretches. The shot count was significantly in our favor. I thought we controlled the rhythm of the game and played to our style. I wish we had been more clinical in the final third, but it was great to see the team fight back after getting behind a goal. I do want to give credit to their goalkeeper, Bailey Spade, though, as he made some spectacular saves to keep the scoreline where it was. This is a couple games in a row now where we left something on the table due to our lack of clinical finishing, though, so I think that's definitely something for us to work on as we go forward into next week's games."

The Petrels, 4-2-1 overall and 0-0-1 in SAA play, will next travel to Pineville, North Carolina, where they will take on Roanoke in a non-conference, neutral-site contest at 7 p.m. After that, they'll head back into conference play with a trip to Tennessee to take on Sewanee on Saturday, Sept. 30.