CLEVELAND, Ohio – It seemed as though the Cleveland State University men's soccer team would earn a draw in its first competitive match in nearly 15 months, but Green Bay scored a golden goal deep into the second overtime to claim a 2-1 win Thursday afternoon inside Krenzler Dome.

The winning Green Bay goal came just 45 seconds from full time as the Phoenix nabbed the victory in each team's season opener.

Sophomore Pablo Kawecki scored his second career goal, which came more than an hour before the winner, while classmate Omeed Naeemy made seven saves in goal.

Each team had a decent look at goal within the opening 10 minutes.

CSU pressure forced a Green Bay giveaway in the third minute, with the ball then being played forward to true freshman Bojan Kolevski. Kolevski had a decent look at goal from the top of the box, but his shot was too close to the keeper to trouble him.

In the eighth minute, Naeemy did well to come out and meet a GB attacker at nearly the same moment as he was trying to get a shot off to snuff out the scoring chance.

The Phoenix would score first in the 24th minute. A low centering pass from the right flank found its target inside the box. Villi Kaldal took a touch to set himself up and pushed the ball into the lower left corner.

The goal seemed to motivate the Vikings, who had a few decent attacks in the ensuing 10 minutes before finding the equalizer about 11 minutes after they fell behind.

A promising attack by CSU saw Green Bay try to clear a low centering pass from the left flank. However, the ball did not leave the attacking third, and Kawecki pounced on it, hitting it first time and lofting it into the upper left corner.

In the 41st minute, junior Jannis Schmidt played a key role in building an attack that eventually saw Kolevski take a shot toward the far corner from inside the right side of the box. However, his effort was slightly wide of the mark, allowing the teams to reach the interval level, 1-1.

Green Bay should have likely gone ahead in the 64th minute, but the score remained tied thanks to a brilliant play by redshirt sophomore center back Saahb Kular. With the CSU goalkeeper out of position, Kular made a huge play, getting his body in front of a shot on the goal line, knocking away what otherwise would have been a certain goal.

Just over a minute later, junior Stjepan Mijic-Barisic cut in from the left side and tried to curl an effort around the keeper from inside the box, but the Phoenix goalie was able to snag it.

Green Bay had a few good looks to win the match in the final five minutes of the 90, but Naeemy made three saves over that span to force overtime.

After regulation, Cleveland State owned a 14-12 advantage in shot attempts.

After a relatively forgetful first overtime period, Green Bay tried to win it early in the second overtime. On a ball sent in from a free kick on the right flank, GB's initial header was blocked. A Phoenix player then tried to find the far corner, but Naeemy made a fantastic save diving to his right.

Although the guests did not find the breakthrough early in the second overtime, they did find it late in the period. Taking advantage of a CSU giveaway near midfield, the Phoenix drove forward before sending the ball toward the right flank. Kaldal drove on a diagonal toward goal, and his close range shot was denied. However, the rebound deflected into the center of the pitch and was easily dispatched into the vacant net to close the match.

Kolevski started his debut collegiate match and led CSU with four shots. Three other CSU rookies—Josh Davis, Michael Neumann and Julian Pellegrini—made their collegiate debuts by coming off the bench in the second half.

Cleveland State will return to action Wednesday, Feb. 10, as it plays its road opener at Robert Morris.