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Summer Sultana

The #6 Schoolcraft Men's Soccer team opened their NJCAA National tournament against #10 Heartland Community College and lost 4-3 in double OT in Tuscon, AZ.

TUCSON, AZ – The #6 Schoolcraft Ocelots opened their national tournament against #10 Heartland Community College on Nov. 13, 2023 in Tucson, AZ.

The opening game for the Ocelots was a back and fourth contest all night. The chances would come early and often for both teams, but it would be the Ocelots who would strike first when Dante Davidson would get his nation leading 30^th goal of the season. 13 minutes later, Heartland would strike back on an impressive diving header that would sneak past Brenden Ware. With 14 total shots in the first half, 10 for Heartland and 4 for the Ocelots, those would be the only 2 goals of the first half.

The 2^nd half would see plenty more action. The game really got started in the 65^th minute when Schoolcraft would draw a foul in the box that led to a Matheus Barbosa PK goal, his 8^thgoal of the year. Just 5 minutes later, Heartland would strike back to tie the game at 2 apiece. In the 78t minute, Heartland would draw a penalty in the box and convert on their PK, much like the Ocelots did. As time was running out and it looked like the chances were dwindling for the Ocelots, Schoolcraft would draw a foul from around 25-yards away. This would lead to a captain stepping up. Exactly like we saw in the district game against Mercer, Gavin Brose would step up and rip the free kick past the goalie to tie the game in the 85^th minute. After 90 minutes, the game would remain tied at 3.

With the game being tied after 90 minutes, this led to overtime. Overtime is played s 2 separate 10-minute periods with golden goal style of play. The first half of overtime saw 2 great chances for the Ocelots, but the Heartland goalie would keep them out of the net. The game look destined to go into a PK shootout after the second half of overtime ran out until Heartland found a loose ball in the box and ripped it in the upper corner with 13 seconds left in overtime to win the game by a score of 4-3.

Schoolcraft looks to bounce back in a must win game for a chance for their season to continue, Nov. 14 at 5:00 p.m. against the #3 team, CCBC Essex.