ASHLAND, Va. – Guilford’s Kenny Nzekwe capped off a hat trick with an overtime goal at the 95:58 mark, helping the Quakers’ men’s soccer team advance to the semifinal round of the ODAC Men’s Soccer Tournament with a 4-3 victory at Randolph-Macon on Tuesday, April 6th in Ashland, Va.
With the match knotted at three-all, following a strike by Guilford’s Sebastian Salas at the 76th minute, Nzekwe converted a pass from teammate Jasper Ardinger for the fourth Guilford goal of the afternoon, extending the Quaker’s winning streak to six matches. The game-winning goal sends Guilford (5-2-1, 4-2-1 ODAC) to the ODAC Semifinals where they will face Washington & Lee on Friday, April 9th in Lexington, Va.
Nzekwe scored three goals on the day, including the first two of the match as Guilford established a 2-0 advantage by the 13:28 mark. The first of those two goals came at 11:08, following a pass from Joenn Lanza. Just over two minutes later, Ardinger found Nzekwe for his second goal of the match and fifth of the season.
Randolph-Macon (5-3, 5-2 ODAC) tallied its first of three straight goals at the 20:03 mark when Penny Senior converted a pass from Colton Howell, slicing the Guilford lead to 2-1 at the intermission.
Senior drove home his second goal of the contest at the 55th minute when Howell again found him, tying the match at 2-2. Just over 18 minutes later, at 73:47, Senior came through with his third straight goal and provided the Yellow Jackets with a 3-2 advantage. Salas answered with the game-tying goal at the 76:44 mark, sending the match to overtime.
Guilford had 16 shots (8 SOG) in the contest, including five from Nzekwe, while Randolph-Macon countered with 14 shots (8 SOG), receiving five from Senior.
Zach Van Kampen was the winner in net for Guilford, making five saves among the eight shots he faced. Anthony Ivanov came through with four saves in the eight shots he faced for the Yellow Jackets.
Guilford now turns its attention to the match with Washington & Lee on Friday, April 9th. For more information on Guilford men’s soccer check out www.guilfordquakers.com.