ROLLA, Mo. – With no actual games taking place right now due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we want to look back at some significant events that took place during the 2019-20 athletic season and break down various elements of those games.

Today, we'll take a look at the men's soccer team's win on Oct. 13 over Missouri-St. Louis.

THE SET-UP: The Miners were looking to get into the playoff race in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, but came into this Sunday afternoon contest with the Tritons on a four-game winless streak that included two ties.  S&T was 2-4-2 in conference play when the day began, but was starting a three-game homestand that could potentially put them right into the top eight in the standings before it headed into a four-game stretch on the road to close the regular season schedule.

UMSL came into the game with just one conference win in nine games, but the victory had come in its most recent outing two days earlier – a 1-0 victory over second-ranked Maryville on a second half goal by Magnus Andersen, one of the top scorers in the GLVC.

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE GAME: S&T jumped out to an early lead as Jacob Bandy (Bettendorf, IA/Pleasant Valley) scored in the eighth minute of play, but Andersen struck twice in a span of just over two minutes to give the Tritons the lead.  His first goal came on a penalty kick in the 30^th minute, then his second tally in the 32^nd minute gave UMSL a lead it would carry to halftime.

The Tritons held onto the advantage until the 64^th minute of action, when Bertram Gjelfort (Frederiksberg, Denmark/Falkonergaarden) ripped a shot from the top of the penalty area into the lower right corner of the net to knot the contest.  S&T regained the lead just over nine minutes later when Jason Jorgensen (Florence, Italy/Liceo Scientifico Santa Maria) sent a pass to his brother, Thomas, who split two defenders and put in the go-ahead tally.

That lead was short-lived thanks to Andersen, who earned all-Midwest region honors at the conclusion of the season, as he notched his third goal of the afternoon in the 77^th minute to even the game at three.   The game remained scoreless for the balance of regulation time and through the first overtime period, but just over a minute elapsed in the second overtime when the Miners ended the contest and their winless streak as Julien Denis (Olathe, KS/Olathe East) saved a ball inbounds near the end line and sent it back out to Paal Benum (Trondheim, Norway/Byaasen Videregaadende), who hit a shot from 23 yards away into the far corner for the game-winner.

BETWEEN THE NUMBERS: Benum's goal was his second of the season at the time – both of which were game-winners in overtime.  He also posted a game-ending goal in overtime in the season opener against Ouachita Baptist. … Gjelfort, who scored S&T's second goal of the game, led S&T with six on the year.  Five of his six goals came in games in which the Miners won or earned a tie. …. The Miners outshot the Tritons 26-12 in the game; they had all five shots in overtime and eight of the 10 shots taken by either side after Andersen's game-tying goal in the 77^th minute. … S&T matched its season high with the four goals (it also had four in a September win over Southwest Baptist); it was the first time since the 2012 season in which it had multiple games with four or more goals.

THE POST-SCRIPT: The victory, coupled with a win five days later over Truman State, moved the Miners into the top eight in the GLVC standings with five games remaining.  However, a double overtime loss to Quincy in their home finale that took place a week after the UMSL contest sent the Miners into a five-game losing streak to close the season.  Three of the losses were one-goal setbacks, with the Quincy and Indianapolis losses coming in overtime and the 1-0 setback to GLVC regular season champion McKendree coming on a goal in the 80^th minute.  The Miners did improve by two wins during the 2019 season and doubled the number of conference games that ended with either a win or a tie.