FULTON, Mo. – The William Woods University men's soccer team suffered a hard fought battle against Lindenwood University-Belleville on Wednesday night, as the Owls couldn't fend off the Lynx in the second overtime and fell in tough fashion, 4-3 (2OT).
 
In its fourth consecutive game in which, the Owls (8-5-3; 4-3-3 AMC), couldn't find the back of the net to end the game in regulation, couldn't escape with a win and dropped a key game to AMC foe LU-Belleville (8-6; 5-3 AMC).
 
Despite being outshot in the first half, 19-5, the Owls were able to draw blood first and get its home crowd to their feet, as Lendell Louis-Jacques got past the Lynxs defense in the corner and placed a ball inside the 18 yard box. Jesse Jordan, who was placed perfectly, bicycled kicked the ball past LU-Belleville goal keeper, to capture the impressive goal and give WWU the early 1-0 lead.
 
As the first half went on, the Owls would extend its lead at the 28^th minute, as Harrison Bray collected his third assist on the year, with a cross pass that connected with a cutting Louis-Jacques right outside the goal. Louis-Jacque would tip the ball past a diving Nicolas Nicolaci, to add a goal to his stat sheet on the night and to give the Owls the 2-0 lead.
 
After the Owls earned the early momentum, the Lynxs were not going down without a fight, responding with a goal of their own at the 29:51 mark, as Fernando Carcamo got LU-Belleville on the board and cutting the Owls lead down to one  (2-1).
 
Then with less than six minutes left in the first half, Lindenwood-Belleville scored the equalizing goal from the foot of their leading scorer, Leonardo Ferri who was assisted by Oriol Lopez. The goal would make it a new ball game at 2-2 and that would be how the first frame came to an end.
 
Coming out of half time, the Owls put the pressure on LU-Belleville, as Bray passed a ball up from midfield connecting with Louis-Jacques. The Montreal, Canada native, would collect his tenth assist on the year, finding Alex Severino , who would dribble the ball inside the Lynx's box and score past Nicolaci, to regain the lead at 3-2.
 
The fans at Firley Field knew they were in for a great match-up, as the Lynxs were able to tie the game up for the second time and who else it would be, Ferri, who headed a ball, past Owls goalkeeper, Bridger Pretz, which was placed inside the box from Leonardo Nakama, knotting the game up at 3-3.
 
WWU had a chance at the 80:40 minute to put the game away, after the team was awarded a penalty kick from a LU-Belleville foul inside the box. Brett Hodges stepped up to take the kick and with all the Owls players and fans anxiously waiting, Hodges kick to left bottom of the net was saved by Nicolaci, keeping the score tied up 3-3.
 
The Owls defense held strong and wouldn't allow the Lynx to score another goal with the clocking winding down in regulation, despite getting outshot 15-5 in the final 45:00 minutes of play.
 
As the horn sound, neither team found the back of the net for the game winning goal and there was need of extra time to determine a winner on Wednesday night in Fulton, Missouri. 
 
The Owls, who are no strangers of over time this season, took control with a 2-1 shot advantage, as Juan Roman who had the game winning goal in (2OT) this past weekend had a chance to do it again but neither team could capitalize, so another 10:00 minutes of play was needed.
 
In the second overtime, the Owls knew they needed to do whatever they could to find the back of the net, but LU-Belleville had a different answer to that and in the 103^rd minute Ferri would bury his third goal of the night, recording a hat-trick and giving the Lynxs the 4-3 game winning goal.
 
After 103:21 minutes of play, the Owls were outshot 39-12, but wasn't a reflection of how hard they battle from the start to finish.
 
Louis-Jacques paced the way for WWU on the night, as the sophomore got thing going again offensively, recording two assists and a goal, while Jordan and Severino both collected a goal and two shots on night, while Bray handed out a season-high two assists.
 
In the net, Bridger with just his third start on the year, posted a career-high 17 saves on the night.
 
The Owls return back to action on Saturday October 23^rd, as the team pays a visit to Mount Mercy University before closing its regular season with the final AMC match-up against Central Baptist College on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.
 
Fans check back on wwuowls.com for a full preview later this week.

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