The Dominican University men's soccer team found the back of the goal for the regulation equalizer in the 88^th minute and then tallied the golden goal with just 18 seconds remaining in the first overtime to advance to the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Tournament Semifinals with a 3-2 win over the Benedictine University Eagles at West Campus Field on Saturday afternoon.
 
Jose Gomez (Elgin, Ill.) played the role of hero for the Stars, tallying his first collegiate goal in the 100^th minute after Alex Rohder (Orland Park, Ill.) scored the game-tying goal in the 88^th.
 
"The effort to the very end was rewarded when we were able to score late in the second half and again in the overtime," commented Dominican's Erick Baumann following the match.  "There was no quit on our side today. It was nice to see the guys respond and elevate their compete level.  They were determined to tie it up and thankfully that drive paid off."
 
Baumann continued, "What a way for Gomez to score his first collegiate goal."
 
The Stars took a 1-0 lead in the 28^th minute when Iven Hernandez (Antioch, Ill.) slid a pass through a pair of Benedictine defenders for Jonathan Arzeta (Des Plaines, Ill.) who was making a run to the PK spot.  Arzeta one-timed a shot past the Eagles' Zorohn Reed, giving Dominican their first lead over Benedictine in more than 270 minutes of play since 2013.
 
"I thought we came out and did a nice job executing our game plan in the first half today," said Baumann.  "We took control of the game, played with discipline, held them to zero shots on goal and finished one of our chances."
 
Benedictine leveled the score just 12 minutes into the second half when Gio Ovalle dribbled along the top of the 18-yard box before ripping a shot with his right foot that snuck in under the crossbar.  Seven minutes later, the Eagles claimed their first lead of match, capitalizing on the lone penalty awarded in the match as Francisco Delgado had just enough pace to beat Dominican's Gabriel Gongora (Naperville, Ill.), despite Gongora making the correct read, diving to his right.
 
"There was a period of time in the second half that we didn't manage the game well and they took advantage of it," remarked Baumann.  "However, we responded well after we fell behind and played with urgency and kept the pressure on them."
 
The Stars thought they tied the match at 2-2 with 3:22 to play when Nestor Ascencio (Streamwood, Ill.) ripped a low shot through traffic that landed in the back of the goal. However an offside call took the score of the board and setup the late game heroics for Rohder and Gomez.
 
The Stars, needing a goal to stave off elimination, continued to press forward and finally got an equalizer to stand with just 150 seconds to play.  Frankie Saiz (Naperville, Ill.) served a ball from the right back that skipped off a defender's head before finding Arzeta at the back post.  Arzeta popped the ball back towards the goal where Rohder was able to get on the end of it and blast it into the net.
 
The score remained tied through regular time and deep into overtime when it was another cross by Saiz that ended in the back of the goal.  This time with just 18 ticks remaining, it was Gomez that drove a header inside the near post for the game-winner past Reed.

The Stars outshot the Eagles 12-6, putting four shots on goal compared to just two for Benedictine.  
 
Dominican, now 11-4-3 on the season, heads to Mequon, Wisconsin, on Tuesday for a semifinal matchup with the top-seeded Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons.  Kickoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.