TULSA, Okla. - Tulsa's Ashley McInnes scored the golden goal seven minutes into overtime to lift the Golden Hurricane past Saint Louis 4-3 Sunday afternoon in NCAA Tournament second-round action at Hurricane Stadium.
The Billikens rallied from deficits of 2-0 and 3-1 to send the game into overtime. Freshman forward James Dice recorded a goal with just four seconds left in regulation to knot the score at 3-3 heading into overtime.
In overtime, McInnes collected a Joe Salem feed at 97:30 and put one past SLU keeper Ross Kaufman. The win lifts Tulsa into the third-round of the NCAA Tournament, where it will face Northwestern next Sunday. SLU ends its season with a 15-7-0 record.
"That game was an example of what these guys are all about, they never say die and battle until the very end," SLU head coach Dan Donigan said. "Credit Tulsa, they are a great team and scored a great goal to send us home.
"This is one of the most mentally-toughest teams I've had," Donigan continued. "We have a bright future with this group. I'm sad for the seniors, but they should be proud. They led this team to a great season."
The two teams were feeling each other out in the first 15 minutes, but Tulsa jumped on the scoreboard with a pair of tallies less than two minutes apart. At 20:48, Austin Neal scored from 12 yards out as SLU was unable to find a clearance out of their own end. McInness send the ball up, and Neal buried a shot past Kaufman to put the Golden Hurricane on top 1-0.
At 22:02, Blaine Gonsalves notched a goal to put Tulsa ahead 2-0. He collected a loose ball on the left side of the box, and curled a pretty ball into the upper-right netting past a screened Kaufman.
The Billikens answered at 37:31 when Sweetin scored his second goal on the season. He collected the ball on the left side, turned and fired a shot behind TU keeper Andy Aguilar to cut the SLU deficit in half at 2-1.
Kaufman made several big saves in Tulsa's attempts to get that goal back. TU's Ashley McInnes fired a ball from 25 yards out the Kaufman stopped while diving to his right. Later, Kaufman managed to get a glove on a deflection off a corner kick to keep it a 2-1 game at halftime.
The Billikens maintained much of the possession to start the second half, but it was the Golden Hurricane that cracked the scoreboard first in the second session. On a counter-attack off a Billiken corner at 66:38, Jose Parada raced three-quarters of the length of the field and drew Kaufman off his line. With a pair of defenders on his back, Parada calmly chipped the ball over Kaufman for a 3-1 Tulsa advantage.
But a resilient Billiken squad again cut the Tulsa advantage to just one when Sweetin scored his second goal of the game at the 71:57 mark. He collected the ball outside the box and brought it in through the left side, maintaining possession despite splitting a pair of Tulsa defenders. Sweetin found the back of the net from about 10 yards to make it a 3-2 Golden Hurricane lead.
But Dice managed to score with four seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime. Sweetin was fouled at the top of the box, setting up a Tim Ream free kick with eight ticks remaining on the clock. Ream pounded the ball into the wall, and Dice collected the loose ball and fired to the far post for the equalizer. It was Dice's third goal of the season.
Tulsa out-shot the Bills 16-13 and held a 5-3 advantage in corner kicks. Kaufman made four saves for the Bills, while Tulsa counterpart Aguilar notched four as well.
