The Malone University men's soccer team posted a 2-1 overtime win against Walsh University on Saturday afternoon.  The Pioneers kept their Great Midwest Athletic Conference postseason hopes alive with the victory and also completed a regular-season sweep of the rival Cavaliers after having defeated Walsh by a 1-0 final back on September 15. 

Walsh struck first in Saturday's match as Miles Cornwell tallied his seventh goal of the season with the help of Steven Taylor's first assist of the year.  The score put the Cavaliers up 1-0 in the 24th minute. 

The Pioneers rallied back in the 74th minute to tie things up 1-1 as Nathan McFeaters  recorded his second goal of the season off an assist from Patrick Brightbill.

The two teams were deadlocked at the end of regulation, forcing the match into overtime.

Malone's top scorer, Gino Finelli (5), and top assist leader, Evan Dekker (6), teamed up together in the second minute of overtime to finish things off 2-1.

It was a physical match with 30 fouls and six yellow cards.  The Malone defense lightened the goalkeeper's load as Alexandre Durand posted only one save for the evening.  The Pioneers have not allowed more than three goals in a match all season and have now limited their opponents to two goals or less in each of their last five matches.

Finelli has come up big for the Pioneers on multiple occasions this season.  Saturday marked the second consecutive contest in which the junior from CVCA has netted the game-winner in extra time as he scored both of Malone's goals during Thursday's thrilling 2-1 overtime victory against Lake Erie College.  Finelli was also responsible for the game-winning goal back on September 15 durng the first meeting of the season between the Pioneers and Cavaliers.

The Pioneers go to 6-9-1 overall and 6-7-1 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference while Walsh drops to 7-8-1 overall and 4-7-1 in the G-MAC, thwarting the Cavaliers' chances for the playoffs. 

With its conference schedule complete, Malone will now await the outcome of several G-MAC matches that are scheduled for Tuesday night to see if the squad will secure the sixth and final spot in the G-MAC Postseason Tournament.  Regardless of what happens Tuesday, 2018 has been a great turnaround year for first-year head coach Eric Reed and the entire Malone men's soccer  team.

Up Next:
Malone goes on the road for an out of conference match Tuesday night against California University of Pennsylvania.