SWARTHMORE, Pa.—Thanks to some late-game heroics on both ends of the field, Swarthmore College Men's Soccer knocked off Widener University 2-1 and improved to 3-0 to start the season. A penalty kick for Swarthmore in the 87th minute was the deciding goal, and two diving saves from senior goalkeeper Oliver Steinglass kept the Widener Pride at bay.
Steinglass was tested often and came up with seven saves en route to the win. Complicating Steinglass' situation was the fact that Swarthmore had to play a man-down for the final 32 minutes of the game because of a red card that had been issued. Steinglass maintained his composure and made crowd-wowing saves in the 77th and 86th minutes.
His saves kept the game knotted at 1-1. Swarthmore had scored in the sixth minute of play after freshman Bless Tumushabe located Woojin Shin for his first goal of the season. Widener retaliated in the 23rd minute with a successful penalty kick.
The intensity continued to escalate in the local rivalry game dubbed the Delco Derby. Seven cards were issued in the contest and 33 fouls signaled. Aggressive play from Widener led to forward Joe Barile getting taken down in the box and triggering a penalty kick for Swarthmore with a little more than three minutes to go in the game.
Charley Ward lined up for the penalty kick and drained it, netting his first goal of the season and sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Swarthmore has now won 12 straight meetings with Widener and hasn't lost to the Pride since 1999.
The Garnet are back in action on Saturday at Penn State Abington.
