Men's Soccer Handed Devastating 3-2 Overtime Loss by Hood

Boxscore (box score) / (video highlights)

Sophomore midfielder Tori Remondelli (Point Pleasant, NJ) scored his sixth goal of the season, but Widener fell to Commonwealth Conference foe Hood 3-2 in overtime at Leslie C. Quick Jr. Stadium.

Widener (5-6-3, 0-2-2 CC) controlled possession in the first half and Hood controlled the second, but it was a goal five minutes into overtime that gave the Blazers a league win.

Remondelli started off the scoring in the eighth minute. Sophomore Zac Furia (Morton, PA) was waiting to take a corner kick from the left side of the field. Remondelli, who had been standing at the midfield, ran towards the goal as soon as Furia kicked the ball. Furia's pass met Remondelli five yards outside the Hood box, and Remondelli one-timed the ball into the top right corner of the goal. Remondelli moves into fourth place in the conference with six goals and 15 points.

Hood (5-6-1, 2-1-1) evened the score in the 21st minute when Juliano Pillari hit a long pass that found Eric Diehl down the left side on a breakaway. Diehl took two touches and hit a shot into the right side netting.

In the 37th minute, Hood gained a 2-1 lead. A mishandle of the ball from a Widener player gave Hood's Joseph Benton a one-on-one with senior goaltender Jakub Valdner (Bratislava, Slovakia). Benton took a shot from 12 yards out that went under the left hand of the Pride goalie. Valdner finished with seven saves, bringing his season total to a conference-leading 70 saves.

Widener fought back and tied it at 2-2 in the 55th minute when Furia scored his first goal of the year. Freshman midfielder Max Reid (Munich, Germany) received a pass and carried the ball into the Hood box. Reid took a shot that was tipped away by goalkeeper Ian McDonald. Furia was there to pick up the rebound and rocketed a shot from six yards out that slipped just under the crossbar.

The game traveled into overtime; the third overtime game for Widener in the last four contests. Five minutes passed when Hood's midfielder Juliano Pillari placed a shot from 20 yards out that arced over the head of Valdner and into the back of the net.

Jesse Zafiratos, Widener assistant coach, said, "Tough game tonight, we need to start putting away teams earlier. Tonight we didn't do that, but we are looking forward to doing so on Saturday."

Widener plays Arcadia on Saturday at 7:30 pm as part of Homecoming weekend.

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