Woodard's pair trumped by O'Dell's hat trick

It was a see-saw affair Wednesday night between the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy Eutectics and the Fontbonne Griffins from Centene Stadium in Clayton, MO.

The contest saw each team hold one-goal leads and featured 15 fouls, 5 yellow cards, 14 corner kicks, 37 shots and when the dust settled, Fonbonne scored a pair in the final ten minutes to claim a 5-3 win.

Brandon O'Dell got the home club on the board with a goal not even seven minutes in against Eutectic netminder Jack Wolfe. The Eutectics would grab the led though when they would score twice in a 2:08 span. In the 37^th minutes, Ty Medlock won a 50-50 battle on the right wing about 50-yards away from the net. Medlock delivered a ball into the deep right corner to Jacob Woodard who hit a cross that Alvaro Montijano headed into the back of the net past Griffins keeper, Blake Hinerman. Minutes later, Jacob Woodard would score to put the Purple and Gold up 2-1. Fontbonne came right back though and three minutes later were awarded a penalty shot as Wolfe crashed into an oncoming Griffin as Wolfe was trying to get to a loose ball first near the top of the box. Conner Heern took the penalty shot and went left with the shot as Wolfe dove the other direction and it was a 2-2 tie at the half.

In the second half, it did not take the Fontbonne long to reclaim the lead. The Griffins had an extended possession sequence in the UHSP end and O'Dell scored his second of the game two and a half minutes into the second half to put the Griffins on top 3-2. It stayed that way through the next 20 minutes, but the Eutectics had heavy pressure beginning around the 65^th minute. UHSP had two Grant Woodard corner kicks one of which Woodard nearly curled into the net himself and a blistering shot from Mitchell Harris that Griffins goalie Preston Stork made a diving save on to keep it a 3-2 game. Stork came on to man the Griffins' net at the start of the second half. With 15-minutes left, the Eutectics were just offsides on another rush with an attacker bearing down on the left post of the Fontbonne cage. The Eutectics continued to furiously push the pace in search of the game tying goal. Ty Medlock missed a shot wide left from the outside right corner of the 18-yard box that would have tied it as UHSP dominated time of possession in the final 30-minutes. The Eutectics' persistence finally paid off with 10-minutes left. The Eutectics punted a goal kick to midfield where it was settled and then passed ahead to Jacob Woodard with a defender on his left shoulder. Woodard dribbled in and ripped a shot past Stork to tie the contest at 3-3.

The good fortune for the road club was short lived though, as Fontbonne received a corner kick with eight minutes left. Alex Wigge delivered a ball that Connor Randel headed in amongst traffic to put the Griffins back in front, 4-3. UHSP had three consecutive corner kicks in the ensuing four minutes again trying to level the score, but Fontbonne put the game out of reach when Brandon O'Dell finished off his hat trick scoring on an assist from Ethan Bromaghim who was able to work the ball free of a Eutectic defender as the Griffins went on to win 5-3.

Fontbonne unloaded 19 shots to the Eutectics' 18. Wolfe made seven saves for UHSP while the Griffin netminders combined for eight saves. It is back into American Midwest Conference play for the Eutectics (3-8-2, 0-3-1) in their next matchup as they visit neighboring Harris-Stowe on Saturday afternoon in St. Louis.