Jovanovic earned the golden goal to lift the Rams to the victory
Fort Worth – After two weeks off, the Texas Wesleyan Rams (2-3-1) returned to Martin Field breaking their 2-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory against Southwestern Assemblies of God University in a double-overtime game on Tuesday evening. The game marks the Rams’ ninth win against SAGU since 2010, bringing their overall match record to 9-1-1.
Mateja Jovanovic put in his fourth and fifth goals of the season, including the golden goal with under a minute remaining in the second overtime period. It was the second game-winning goal of the season for the freshman business major from Serbia.
The first quarter started with a burst of energy from the Rams with a shot by midfielder Jovanovic in the first minute that went too high. Midfielder Jovanni Angon followed that with a shot in the box in the 4th minute off a pass that was saved by SAGU goalkeeper Julio Guevara.
The Rams also got a penalty kick in the box in the 5th minute, but Angon’s corner shot went too wide just missing the goal post.
In the 27th minute of the game, the Rams scored a would-be goal that wasn’t counted due to an off-sides penalty called in the 28th minute.
The Rams outshot SAGU 8-5 in the first half but ended the half in a 0-0 stalemate.
In the second half, both teams played competitively, especially after Jovanovic broke the tie with a magnificent goal that found the top-right corner of the net from a set-piece from about 30-yards out in the 49th minute, giving the Rams a 1-0 edge.
The Rams held the lead and tried to pull ahead with shots by defender Rylen Sibley in the 60th minute, Jovanovic in the 62nd minute and 63rd minute, and midfielder Juan Rey in the 64th minute.
In the 66th min, SAGU’s Jadhel Hill scored after outmaneuvering Ram’s goalkeeper Sebastian Almarez, who tried to cut the shot off, but ended up leaving the goal open. This tied to score 1-1.
Between the 83rd and 86th minute, three yellow cards were assigned between both teams, and by the end of the game there were five total. Four of them occurred after the score tied back up. Overall, this game has the record for most yellow cards for the fall 2020 season.
SAGU almost broke the tie in the 88th minute, when Braden Scott Abrams took a shot on the Rams’ open goal after beating Almarez. Defender Carlos Rodriguez managed to move in front of goal with a full-body slide to block the shot.
Rams also outshot SAGU 9-4 in the second half, but with the 1-1- tie the game moved into overtime and then double-overtime.
It was the last 30 seconds of the game, when Jovanovic dribbled up the field and shot for the corner scoring the winning goal and bringing the score to 2-1. Jovanovic has scored five out of the Rams’ nine goals this season.
The Rams will play the University of Science and Arts Oklahoma at Martin Field on Nov. 13 at 5:30 p.m.
Link to the original post: https://ramsports.net/news/2020/11/11/mens-soccer-rams-reign-over-sagu-in-double-overtime-thriller-2-1.aspx
Hannah Onder 