LEXINGTON, Va. – Cleveland State (1-0) won the season opener in overtime on the road at VMI (0-1) 12-11 on Saturday afternoon. Connor Zwagerman scored the game-winner with 44 seconds remaining in the first overtime period.
Parker Yearego scored the first goal of the year with 13:40 remaining in the first quarter as the Vikings led 1-0. Wyatt Robertson netted his first collegiate goal off a pass from Evan Knickle to make it 2-0 with 5:51 left in the opening period.
Gavin Held converted a man-up goal at the 1:52 mark off an assist by Amiri Austin to lead 3-0. Cleveland State shutout the home team in the first quarter behind six saves from Connor Kernan.
The Keydets scored the first two goals of the second quarter to close within 3-2 with 12:26 to go in the first half. Austin halted the run with his first tally at the 11:23 mark.
VMI accounted for the final goal of the half as the Green and White led 4-3 at the break.
The first three goals of the third quarter belonged to the Keydets, as VMI took their first lead of the game, 6-4, with 6:41 showing on the clock.
The first collegiate goal for Will Adair with 5:44 left in the quarter brought the Vikings to within one. After trading goals in which Yearego netted his second of the game, VMI tallied the final two goals of the quarter to lead 9-6.
Yearego completed the hat-trick just a minute into the final quarter and scored again with 10:45 remaining as the deficit dropped to 9-8.
The Vikings drew even after Robertson secured his second goal of the game with 6:32 left in regulation. Dylan Tomarchio found the back of the net with 4:47 showing as Cleveland State went back on top, 10-9.
Less than a minute later, Held extended the advantage to 11–9 off an assist from Yearego. The Keydets answered with two straight goals to retie the game, 11-11, with 1:49 remaining. Kernan came up with two huge saves in the final minute as the opener moved to overtime.
Zwagerman scored the game-winner with 44 ticks left in the first overtime, securing the first-ever season-opening win for the Green and White in program history.
Kernan, making his first collegiate start in goal, made 14 saves on the afternoon for the win. Karson Burkey and Robbie Steward each picked up three ground balls. Griffin Valli forced a game-best two turnovers.
Yearego finished with a game-best five goals and added an assist for five points. Robertson and Held each finished with multiple goals. Austin led the way with two assists.
Cleveland State remains on the road to face Ohio State on Saturday, Feb. 10 at noon.
