Bruins suffer double overtime defeat in opener

SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- Noah Aniser broke a 1-1 tie with his 102^nd minute winner as Morningside College edged the Bellevue University men's soccer team 2-1 in double-overtime in a match-up of two National Tournament qualifiers from a season ago at Elwood Olsen Stadium in the season-opener for both teams.

Records:

#14 Bellevue: 0-1-0
Morningside: 1-0-0

Recap: Morningside 2, #14 Bellevue 1 -- 2 OT

Bellevue had more chances throughout much of the first half but took until the 34^th minute to find the goal.

Kortlan Franke played a pass wide and behind the last Morningside for Andy Janssen to run onto and Janssen did just that, beating keeper Pedro Fernandes for a 1-0 Bellevue lead just moments after missing a similar chance from the other side of the box.

The Bruin lead was short-lived as Moritz Lusch brought Morningside level with a screamer off a BU clearance attempt. He hit the bounding ball out of the air and tucked it high inside the far post, leaving keeper AJ Jarvis with no option but to watch it sail into the goal.

Bellevue held a statistical edge at the halftime whistle, out-shooting the Mustangs 7-5 (3-2 on goal) and sporting a 5-2 advantage in corner kicks won.

Morningside appeared to take the lead in the 62^nd minute but they had a goal called back when the linesman ruled the goal-scorer offside.

Lusch nearly put Morningside ahead in the 85^th minute with a dangerous strike from a free kick. From the near side of the field, about five yards off the corner of the 18-yard box, he whipped a howler than rippled the top of the net, just over the crossbar.

Franke nearly secured the winner in the 99^th minute. With a free ball in the box, his toe-poke was saved by Fernandes to keep things level at a goal apiece.

Less than 90 seconds into the second overtime period, Noah Aniser netted the winner. He collected a loose ball 25 yards from goal and hit a rocket across the goal for the 102^nd minute winner.

Bellevue finished the game with a 13-8 advantage in shots (4-3 on goal) and a 7-5 edge in corner kicks.

Up Next:

Bellevue hosts Grand View University on Tuesday, Aug. 20 from Morrison Stadium on the Creighton University campus. Kick-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.

Notes:

• Bellevue falls to 11-9-4 all-time in season-openers, and 1-1-2 under Mark Heath-Preston.
• It was the first regular-season loss for the Bruins since Oct. 3, 2017. BU had gone 22-straight without a loss (20-0-2).
• This was the fourth time in the past five seasons that Bellevue's season-opener went to overtime. BU is now 0-1-3 in those contests.
• The loss snapped a run of four season-openers without a loss (1-0-3).