Rickey scores in OT for Eagles win

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Southern Indiana men's soccer team broke an eight-match winless streak versus Rockhurst University with a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory Friday evening at Strassweg Field. The Screaming Eagles see their record go to 11-2-1 overall and 9-1-1 GLVC, while the Hawks fall to 5-7-2, 4-5-2 GLVC.
 
The victory puts the Eagles one win away from capturing their first GLVC regular season title and number one seeding in the conference tournament since 1990.
 
USI junior midfielder Sean Rickey (Columbia, Illinois) sent the Eagle faithful home with a victory when he hooked the ball into the left corner for the "golden goal" at 94:14 of overtime. The unassisted goal was Rickey's team-best 11^th of the season.
 
The Eagles fell behind in the opening half when Rockhurst took a 1-0 lead at the 19:27 mark. The Hawks would hold onto the one goal advantage through the intermission.
 
USI would get the equalizer midway through the second half when junior forward Eric Ramirez (Vincennes, Indiana) knotted the score, 1-1, at 63:41. Ramirez was assisted on his fifth goal of the season by junior defender Justin Brooks (Fishers, Indiana) and freshman defender Colten Walsh (St. Louis, Missouri).
 
The score would remain tied, 1-1, through the end of regulation and set the stage for Rickey in the overtime period.
 
Between the posts, sophomore goalkeeper Justin Faas (Carmel, Indiana) raised his record to 11-2-1 on the season. Faas needed only one save after facing a total of six shots in the match.
 
The Eagles concluded the four-game homestand Sunday when they host William Jewell College for Senior Day at 2:30 p.m. USI will honor its lone senior, defender Kent Katzman (Spring Hill, Tennessee), prior to the match.  
 
William Jewell watched its record to 5-10-0 overall and 2-9-0 GLVC after losing to Bellarmine University, 2-0, tonight in Louisville, Kentucky. The all-time series between USI and WJC is tied, 3-3-1, since the Cardinals joined the Eagles in the GLVC in 2011. USI won last year's match-up, 3-1, in Liberty, Missouri.
 
Follow the live coverage of USI men's soccer matches, including live stats and video, on GoUSIEagles.com.