MOUNT BERRY, Ga. -- The Berry College Men's soccer team clinched the Southern States Athletic Conference regular-season title with a 3-2 win over No. 6 Lee in double-overtime at Ford Field on Friday night. The win puts Berry at 11-1 for the year and gives the team a perfect conference record of 9-0. Lee falls to 11-2-2 and is 4-1-1 against SSAC competition.

 

Teja Barkmann sent the home fans into histerics, when he volleyed home a Jorg Bergmann cross to give the No. 14-ranked Vikings the upset win over the sixth-ranked Flames with just 4:27 remaining in the second overtime. The golden-goal ended the match and assured the Vikings of the first SSAC title in school history.

 

The match was a classic in every sense of the word, as the two bitter rivals played to a 2-2 draw after the end of regulation. Berry twice took the lead only to have Lee answer right back.

 

The Flames nearly won the match in the first overtime, if not for the fantastic efforts of Berry keeper Mike Wentzler. In the 93rd minute Wentzler made a one-on-one save against Stanley Nyazamba. Then, Wentzler made a game-saving stop against Ricardo Pierre-Louis from point-blank range in the 98th minute.

 

Wentlzer was tested again just one minute later when he was able to block a long-range Nyazamba effort into the post, before the ball was cleared off the line by Patryk Strojny. The Berry net-minder finished the match with seven saves, with three coming in the first overtime period. His counterpart Michael Simmons, also had a strong effort with nine saves.

 

Berry took its first lead just over three minutes into the second half on a Derrick Colbert goal. The goal was the result of a long throw in from Shane Moroney that was flicked to Colbert by Luis Salazar. However, Colbert had trouble handling the ball and missplayed it to a Lee defender. In a fortunate turn of events for the Berry midfielder, the defenders clearance deflected off Colbert and back into the Lee goal past Simmons.

 

However, the lead did not last long as Nyazamba leveled things with a goal in the 58th minute. Pierre-Louis found Nyazamba open to the right the penalty spot and the senior made no mistake as he curled the ball into the far-corner of the goal to make it 1-1. It was an interesting role-reversal for the two as Pierre-Louis is the school's all-time leader in goals and Nyazamba is Lee's career-assists leader.

 

Berry regained the lead when Salazar poked home a goal on a double assist from Ben Popple and Bergmann. The third goal of the season for the sophomore from Dalton, Ga. gave Berry a 2-1 lead.

 

Just five minutes after the the Vikings retook the lead, Lee defender Nick Odeny was sent off for a second yellow. However, down to10 men Lee continued to battle and equalized on Pierre-Louis' second assist of the night. The Haitian national team player attracted most of the Berry defense with a good run, then dished the ball to his teammate Stanley Magwano, who beat the Berry defender one-on-one and finished past Wentzler to make it 2-2 and force the extra time.

 

Berry out-shot the Flames 27-21 in the game, including a 20-13 advantage in the second half and overtimes. The Vikings also enjoyed an 8-6 advantage in corner kicks.

 

The win marks the end of a five-match home stand for the Vikings. The team will hit the road for the next three matches, beginning with  a road test at Covenant on Wednesday at 4 p.m. The final home match of the season is Oct. 20 against a Mobile team that is ranked second in Region XIII.

 

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