Box Score Photo Credit: Ryan Campbell celebrates his go-ahead goal during Saturday's 2-1 win over Johnson & Wales on Senior Day. (Sheridan Steiner/Norwich University)
NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University men's soccer team scored twice in the second half to rally from a 1-0 halftime deficit and defeat Johnson & Wales 2-1 on Senior Day at Howard Field.
Senior Mike Ravenelle (Merrimack, N.H.) leveled the score in the 72nd minute and then junior co-captain Ryan Campbell (Damascus, Md.) scored in the 86th minute to lift the Cadets to the come-from-behind Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) regular-season finale victory.
Norwich (10-5-1, 6-3-1 GNAC) also clinched a first round home game for the conference postseason tournament with the win. The Cadets will await the result of Monday's match between Lasell and St. Joseph's (Maine) to find out whether they are the No. 3 or the No. 4 seed for the tournament.
Johnson & Wales' (10-7-1, 6-4-0 GNAC) Kyle Metz gave the Wildcats a 1-0 lead with header that beat NU sophomore goalkeeper Christian Hallstrom (Las Vegas, Nev.) far post in the 27th minute.
JWU continued to lead through halftime and for a large portion of the second half until Ravenelle stepped up big on Senior Day for the Cadets by collecting his own rebound and burying a beautiful strike into the far right corner of the net to tie the match up at one with his third goal of the season.
Norwich continued to build momentum in search for the go ahead goal and finally Campbell gave the Cadets their first and only lead they would need with a little over four minutes remaining when he half-bicycled a loose ball in the box into the right corner of the net for his fifth goal of the season.
"We're very proud of these kids today," said Norwich head coach Kyle Dezotell after securing his seventh straight season of double-digit wins at the helm of the program. "To come back in a game like this with such importance shows great leadership and character."
Johnson & Wales outshot Norwich 13-12 and had four corner kicks to the Cadets' one. Hallstrom made four saves for NU while Scoggin stopped three shots for JWU.
Norwich will start postseason play next Saturday against an opponent and a time still to be determined when the Cadets host a GNAC Quarterfinal match. The Cadets are coming off a runner-up finish one year ago, falling short to St. Joseph's (Maine) 4-1 in the final.
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