The Master's University men's soccer team came from behind twice and scored two goals 76 seconds apart late in the second half to beat Park-Gilbert 4-3 on Thursday at Reese Field. Trent Rickard had a hat trick, and Zach Bates scored the winner in the 79th minute.
TMU improves to 9-4-3 overall and 8-2-1 in GSAC play in sole position of the second seed in the GSAC standings. Park-Gilbert falls to 10-6 and 7-4.
The Mustangs outshot the Firebirds 24-13 and put 15 shots on goal to Park-Gilbert's eight. Park-Gilbert goalkeeper Nicklas Lagesen kept his team in the match with 11 saves.
TMU started fast. Rickard had three shots on target in the first 16 minutes and scored at 16:04, finishing a pass from Bates for a 1-0 lead. Seventeen seconds later, Rickard hit the post. The Mustangs kept pressing and took nine more first-half shots, but Lagesen saved everything else on target.
Park-Gilbert then scored twice in 54 seconds around halftime. Olli Saksinen tied it 1-1 at 44:27, just before the break. Florian Traebert scored off a Saksinen assist 21 seconds into the second half to put the Firebirds up 2-1.
Rickard tied it again at 57:41 with an unassisted goal, his second of the day. Saksinen scored again at 72:06 off a Caden Dosmann assist to give Park-Gilbert a 3-2 lead. Adiel Kaduya hit the crossbar less than a minute later and had another shot saved at 74:30.
The equalizer came at 77:07. Bates and Kaduya set up Rickard for his third goal and a 3-3 tie. Seventy-six seconds later, Rickard returned the favor, setting up Bates for the go-ahead goal at 78:23. Park-Gilbert had three corner kicks over the next four minutes. Franco Barba made back-to-back saves at 80:20 and 80:47, and TMU held on.
"Incredible comeback today from the team. I'm so proud of their resilience and focus. We got knocked down a couple times but got back up and secured a much needed win," TMU Head Coach Jim Rickard said. "So many great performances today, but Trent was on another level. His three goals and one assist turned the tides of the game.
Trent Rickard finished with three goals and an assist on 11 shots, eight of them on goal. Bates had a goal and two assists for four points. Kaduya had five shots, four on target, and an assist. Barba played all 90 minutes and made five saves.
Saksinen had two goals and an assist for Park-Gilbert.
The Mustangs play at Life Pacific on Saturday, Oct. 24, at noon at the APU Soccer Field in Azusa.
