It took every second of Thursday's non-region boys soccer match for Eisenhower to down visiting Corry, 3-2, at Eisenhower High School.
And the match was even longer than normal after a half-hour or so weather delay right after halftime.
Eisenhower's Jake VanHouten found the back of the net to break the 2-2 tie with only three seconds left in the match to give the Knights their second win of the season.
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Times Observer photo by Ben Oviatt
Heads Up
Eisenhower junior Erik Daugharthy battles a Corry opponent for the ball in Thursday’s 3-2 non-region win at Eisenhower High School.
Last-second goals are nothing new to VanHouten, who kept the team's playoff hopes alive last season with one second remaining in a match to tie Fairview.
"I like how we dug in and pulled it out at the end," said Eisenhower coach Mike Decker, whose young Knights are off to a 2-0 start with the Region 3 schedule beginning in a little over a week. "With three seconds left, Jake made sure he had the shot."
The Knights started the scoring early when freshman Josh Eernisse took a pass from VanHouten and scored the first goal of his high school career to take a 1-0 lead.
After surrendering the next two goals, Eisenhower struck back when Ben Perkins buried a penalty kick to tie the game and set up the game-winner.
"We didn't play our best and still got the win. We have better in us," said Decker.
The Knights continue their non-region schedule at 11 a.m. Saturday against visiting Titusville.
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Warren 2, North East 0
NORTH EAST - On paper, the first seven games of the Warren boys soccer team's 2012 are brutal.
Two games into that stretch and things are looking just fine for the Dragons.
Warren scored a goal in each half and got a strong effort from its defense during a 2-0 victory over the North East Grapepickers Thursday at North East High School.
"The play was a little sloppy, but we were able to scrap out a win," said Warren boys soccer coach Tom Harrington. "We played very well defensively in tough conditions and Nathan Sandberg had a good match in goal with 10 saves."
The opening half of Thursday's game was played scoreless until nearly 25 minutes in. Liam Boger played a through ball to Matt Sandberg who buried a shot in the net for a 1-0 advantage. That lead held until halftime and the Dragons doubled the advantage shortly into the second 40 minutes.
This time, a corner kick by foreign exchange student Phil Acula was handled by Joseph Bell and Bell's first goal of the year made it 2-0 visitors.
The Dragons outshot the Pickers 17-10 during the outing.
Things don't get much easier for the Dragons from here as the club hosts Harbor Creek at 11 a.m. Saturday at War Memorial Field.
Warren's junior varsity team was a 3-2 winner over North East on Thursday. Mitchell Dorunda, Max Gross and Jason Tipton all had goals for the winners while Bryce Bauer and Wyatt Pierson added assists. Clark Eason and Nick Tarpenning combined in goal for the win.