HARRISONBURG, Va. - The EMU men's soccer team came into Tuesday night's match against Hampden-Sydney needing a win to keep its postseason hopes alive. And the Royals played like their season depended on it...because it did. 

But after a scoreless 100 minutes of play, the visiting Tigers dashed the postseason chances of EMU with a goal at the 8:40 mark of the second overtime to pick up the 1-0 win. 

Highlights

• Prior to the match kicking off, EMU celebrated its five seniors: Jonas Beachy, David Flores Cano, Cole Ours, David Smith and Ahmed Zaatar. Tuesday was also head coach Roger Mast's final regular season match as the skipper of the Royals, with Mast announcing his retirement from coaching after 31 years. 
• The first shot on goal for either team didn't come until the 18th minute of the first half. EMU's Ford DeVault was able to put one on target but it was stopped by the Hampden-Sydney keeper. Zaatar made his first save of the night in the 29th minute, keeping the game knotted at 0 heading into the half. 
• In the second half, the EMU defense was busy as the Tigers started playing a more aggressive style. But just like he did in the first half, Zaatar stopped all the shots that came his way. Ethan McGee and DeVault had chances in the second, but weren't able to capitalize. 
• Both defenses were stout in the first OT, with neither team able to get a shot on goal and sending the match to a second extra period. 
• In the second OT, less than a minute and a half in, Jack Delaney took a pass from Stefan Ngoh and put it past Zaatar, giving HSC the win and securing the eight seed for the Tigers. 
• Zaatar finished his Royals career with five saves, giving him 354 across his four years at EMU. 

What's Next

The loss ends the Royals 2021 campaign. EMU will be looking for a new head coach for 2022 but the team returns a strong core of players who saw playing time this season. 

To keep up to date with everything surrounding the men's soccer program this year follow EMU on Twitter and Instagram, like EMU Athletics on Facebook or visit our website.