For 74 minutes Saturday night, Rockhurst men's soccer couldn't find the breakthrough. Then, in the final 15 minutes, everything changed.
Trailing Indianapolis 1-0 with time winding down in its Great Lakes Valley Conference opener, Rockhurst scored twice in a span of 12 minutes to turn a deficit into a 2-1 victory at Bourke Field.
The Hawks' comeback began at 74:15, when Mattia Petricca leveled the match off an assist from Daniele Ciancaglini. Just 11:48 later, Ozonna Ugbaja delivered the decisive blow, scoring at 86:03 to put Rockhurst in front for the first time.
From there, the Hawks held on through a frantic final four minutes to secure their first conference victory of the season. Rockhurst finished the night with a 15-10 advantage in shots, including a 6-5 edge in shots on goal, while both teams recorded four saves from their respective goalkeepers. The Hawks also held a 4-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Neither team could break through during a tightly contested opening 45 minutes. Rockhurst produced eight shots in the first half compared to four from Indianapolis, but UIndy goalkeeper Rick Lammerts kept the Hawks off the scoreboard. Nicolas Schrag put an early attempt on target in the 12th minute, forcing Lammerts into a save, while Luke Strueby answered at the other end with a stop on Sam Siegel in the 28th minute. The Hawks continued to generate chances before halftime, with Rockhurst recording eight first-half shots and holding Indianapolis to four.
Still, the match went into halftime scoreless, but just 2:44 into the second half, Indianapolis' Joey Longo finished a pass from Owen Parrish to give the Greyhounds a 1-0 lead.
The Hawks continued to push forward, eventually turning their pressure into a series of dangerous opportunities. Rockhurst's freshman goalkeeper, Luke Strueby, kept the deficit at one with a pair of important saves during Indianapolis' second-half push, including a stop on Keaton Barnhizer in the 66th minute and another on Hugo Paturel in the 71st minute.
Then came the turning point where Rockhurst generated consecutive chances in the 73rd minute, with Petricca forcing a save from Lammerts at 73:52 before Connor Gaarder's attempt was also stopped just four seconds later. At 74:15, Ciancaglini then found Petricca, who finished the opportunity to tie the match at 1-1.
The Hawks created another opportunity in the 79th minute when Gaarder forced another save from Lammerts. Four minutes later, Ciancaglini nearly gave Rockhurst the lead when his shot struck the woodwork at 82:33. At 86:03, Ugbaja found the back of the net, putting Rockhurst ahead 2-1 and completing a comeback that had seemed unlikely just minutes earlier.
Indianapolis managed one final opportunity when Longo put a shot on target with just 28 seconds remaining, but Strueby made the save to preserve the lead.
Rockhurst scored twice on its final six shots of the night, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory.
Petricca led the Hawks with three shots and two shots on goal, while Ugbaja recorded two shots, one shot on goal and the game-winning goal. Gaarder added two shots, both on target, and Ciancaglini finished with two shots while contributing the assist on Petricca's equalizer. Strueby finished with four saves in the victory, while Lammerts made four saves for Indianapolis.
The victory moves Rockhurst to 2-2-0 overall and 1-0-0 in GLVC play, while Indianapolis falls to 1-2-1 overall and 0-1-0 in conference action. They return to Bourke Field Wednesday (Sept. 9) at 7:30 PM.
