ERIC THIELE ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
The Knights’ men’s soccer team capped off a strong week as they defeated the Central Dutch, 4-3 in overtime on Saturday in Pella.
Central struck first as they scored in the 14th minute, pulling ahead 1-0.
Central’s lead didn’t last long as Luke Prater found the back of the net on an assist from Josh Palmer in the 43rd minute.
Head coach T.J. Buchholz said he thought the team responded well.
“We went down a goal on a free kick. I thought we responded well by getting a goal back to tie it,” Buchholz said.
The Knights continued their play as Eric Peters scored in the 49th minute with the assist from Eric Ruggles.
In the 79th minute, the Knights put in another goal, this time by Palmer. He was assisted by Hedrington and Prater, and gave the Knights the 3-1 lead.
“Eric and Luke have both been playing great soccer. They have been instrumental in scoring this week,” Buchholz said.
The lead didn’t hold for the Knights as Central scored twice, once in the 82nd minute and again in the 88th minute to even things up at 3-3. The match went into overtime.
In the 93rd minute, with the assist from Hedrington and Peters, Brandon Cook found the back of the net to give the Knights the 4-3 win.
“I thought we responded well by getting a goal back to tie it,” Buchholz said.
On Oct. 7, the Knights defeated Buena Vista, 2-0. Hedrington scored two goals. The first goal came in the 13th minute when Hedrington scored on an assist by Cook. The second goal was unassisted.
The Knights defeated Upper Iowa University, 4-0 on Oct. 6. Prater led the team with two goals, one in the 38th minute with the assist from Scott Willits and Palmer. The other goal came in the 65th minute with the assist from Cook.
Cook scored the other two goals in the 54th minute on an assist from Hedrington.
Hedrington scored the last goal for the Knights in the 69th minute, assisted by Jon Farrell.
“I think we were able to come and play well against a Div. II Upper Iowa team. Going 3-0 on the week was important and 2-0 in the conference was very important,” Buchholz said.
The Knights improved their record to 3-1 in the IIAC and 8-3-1 overall, putting the Knights in third place in the conference.
“To be 3-0 is an excellent week and we want to move forward and put together another undefeated week,” Buchholz said.
The Knights host Cornell on Wednesday at 3 p.m.