PITTSBURGH, Pa. --- Twelfth-ranked Carnegie Mellon University's Tartans produced two late goals Saturday to post a 3-1 victory over Virginia Wesleyan College's Marlins in the first round of the NCAA Division III championship tournament at CMU.
A well-played game between the Marlins and Tartans was tied 1-1 in the 64th minute of competition after VWC senior Brian Cornell (Front Royal/Warren County) scored his career-high 11th goal off a strong shot from the left into the upper right corner of the net.
The game remained tied until the 79th minute when Chris Wysocki (Newtown, Pa./Germantown Academy), CMU's leading scorer, recorded his second goal of the game. Connor Webb (Dallas, Texas/J.J. Pearce) assisted on the play that gave the Tartans the lead for good, ending VWC's streak of 11 consecutive games without a loss.
Carnegie Mellon, the runner-up in the University Athletic Association, padded its lead when Jerome Reano (Albuquerque, N.M./Saint Pius X) scored off a drive to the goal, assisted by Tristan Lockwood (Victor, N.Y./Victor), in the 84th minute.
The Tartans led 1-0 at halftime after Wysocki scored on a penalty kick in the 22nd minute.
CMU finished with a 17-7 advantage in shots, while both teams recorded four corner kicks. VWC recorded all four of its corners in the second half.
Sophomore goalie Connor Kirkham (Centreville/Chantilly Westfield) recorded six saves for the Marlins and Christopher Madden (Reistertown, Md./Calvert Hall) finished with none. There was one team save for CMU.
Virginia Wesleyan closes its season with a 16-5-1 record, the best for the program since 17 victories in 2007. The Marlins played in VWC's 17th NCAA appearance in men's soccer, entering the tournament as the reigning champion of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.
Carnegie Mellon, now 12-2-3, advances to Sunday's 1:30 contest against the winner of a game between No. 22 Montclair State University and Misericordia University.
--- This release is courtesy of the Virginia Wesleyan College sports information department. ---
www.vwcathletics.com