Elon 3, Mercer 2 (2OT) Hilton Garden Inn Classic // Wilmington, N.C.

Elon head coach Darren Powell and senior Charles Howard discuss Elon's double-overtime win versus Mercer.

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Charles Howard scored the golden goal in the 110^th minute to help the Elon men's soccer team to a 3-2 double-overtime win over Mercer on Friday night, Sept. 6, at the Hilton Garden Inn Classic, hosted by UNCW.

Howard's decisive goal came in the waning minutes of the second extra period as the Phoenix (2-0-1) defeated the Bears (0-2-0) in the opening match of the tournament. Elon outshot Mercer 20-13 in the game while both teams had 10 corner kicks.

Both squads had several opportunities to put points on the board in the opening stanza, but neither team could find the back of the net. The Phoenix had a pair of shots in the opening minutes of the match go wide or get corralled by the Bears. Matt Wescoe had a shot from the top of the box just a minute into regulation, but Mercer's keeper made a clean save. Another attempt two minutes later by Myles Mansfield went just left of the box.

The Phoenix backline held Mercer without a shot attempt until the 19^th minute when Ian Antley's strike was blocked by an Elon defender. The maroon and gold took control of possession on the following corner kick and nearly turned it into points at the other end. Mark Berlin's shot from the right of the box was deflected out of bounds at the 21^st minute to earn a Phoenix corner, but Elon could not get past the Bears' defense. 

Elon sophomore forward Cauê Da Silva had a pair of chances at the 43^rd and 44^th minute to give the Phoenix the first points of the contest. Da Silva was able to beat his man from the left side of the box and had his shot blocked. Another shot within the box was corralled by the Bears and the teams went into the half scoreless.

Elon dominated the opening 45 minutes of the contest as the Phoenix outshot Mercer 6-3 and held a 6-1 advantage in corners. Nonetheless, Elon went scoreless in the first half for the third straight match.

Mercer broke the deadlock with a score in the 71^st minute of the match. The Bears' Ehjayson Henry fired a shot from 24 yards that deflected off an Elon defender. The ricochet managed to sneak through the far right post to put Mercer in front, 1-0.

The lead was short lived as the Phoenix answered quickly with the equalizer by James Brace a minute later. Brace followed his own rebound on a shot inside the goalie box for the first goal of his career and tied the match at 1-1.

At the 80^th minute, Elon's Jason Waterman put Elon in front with a strike from eight yards away thanks to helpers from Nathan Diehl and Mansfield. Mansfield took a cross from Diehl on the right side and chipped it to Waterman for the go-ahead score and a 2-1 lead.

Henry provided the tying goal in the 85^th minute as fired a strike from the right side with a slight deflection off a defender. The game would go into the extra time knotted at 2-2.

Elon nearly had the golden goal in the 94^th minute as Mansfield's header on a cross hit the crossbar. Both teams went into another session tied at 2-2.
 
With less than a minute remaining, Howard was able to push his first career score through the net for the golden goal. Howard took a shot from 22 yards away that deflected off a defender and found its way inside the right post.
 
Elon's Nathan Dean made five saves as he played every minute between the posts. Mercer's keeper Greg Ranjitsingh had nine stops for the Bears.
 
The Phoenix returns to the pitch to close out the tournament on Sunday, Sept. 8, vs. Presbyterian at 1 p.m.