CEDARVILLE, Ohio - Cedarville’s American Mideast Conference title hopes were rocked by Walsh when the visiting Cavaliers got a goal in the 89th minute for a 3-2 win.
It was a back-and-forth match mostly contested in a steady rain. The Yellow Jackets struck first when Ryan Chaney converted a penalty kick in the 19th minute.
Walsh rallied for a 2-1 lead by the intermission with scores in the 23rd and 38th minutes. Matt Niemiec drilled his team-leading 11th goal of the season to tie it in the 57th minute on an assist from James Twinem.
CU nearly took the lead three minutes later when a Jason Bender header skimmed the crossbar. The Cavs were able to create the game winner with 1:52 left for their fourth win in a row to improve to 11-5 overall and 6-3 AMC.
Cedarville drops to 10-4-3 and 5-1-2 AMC. Kevin Bender was credited with four saves in goal.
With the outcome, Walsh secured itself a spot in the upcoming five-team AMC playoffs. The Yellow Jackets went from being in the driver’s seat to win their first outright league title in 30 years to now needing a win or tie against Mount Vernon Nazarene in the regular season finale just to get an AMC bid. [STATS]