AURORA, N.Y. - Conference play started with a bang for the Gallaudet University men's soccer team here Saturday afternoon as they defeated Wells College 2-1 in overtime.

The two teams battled to a 1-1 tie through the first 90 minutes of play and needed another 10 minutes to determine the winner.

Junior midfielder Kelly Grant (Hazelwood, Mo.) headed home a pass from sophomore Jonathon Waterman (Fruita, Colo.) at the 99:33 mark to end the United East Conference opener for both teams. Waterman sent a pass in from the left side of goal towards the middle where Grant headed it past Wells goalie Colton Jaquith (13 saves) in the right side of the net. Grant's second goal of the season ended the game and sparked a Bison celebration.

Gallaudet (2-3, 1-0 United East) won its second game in the past three attempts, which has spanned eight days. 

Wells (0-5, 0-1 United East) scored the first goal in the 27th minute with an unassisted goal from Zaki Javed. The Express took the 1-0 lead into halftime even though they were outshot 15-5.

The Bison knotted the game at 1-1 at the 52:11 mark in the second half when junior Dylan Christoffels (Methuen, Mass.) scored his third goal of the year. Christoffels' goal came off a deflection by Jaquith.

Gallaudet junior goalie Shane Angel (Mechanicsville, Md.) made five saves to improve his season record to 2-3 in net. 

BISON TRACKS

• The Bison held a 26-8 edge in shots and 12-5 advantage in corner kicks
• Waterman led the Bison with six shots (four on goal)
• Seven different Bison had two or more shots in the win
• This was Gallaudet's first overtime game since Oct. 12, 2019, when they beat Keuka College, 1-0
• GU is now 2-0 in overtime games in the state of New York since 2019
• Gallaudet and Wells played an overtime game back on Sept. 29, 2018, in Washington, D.C., where GU won 3-2
• Wells has been outscored 24-4 in five games 

UP NEXT
GU remains in New York for the night and will travel to SUNY Morrisville (2-3-1, 0-1 United East) tomorrow (Sunday, Sept. 19) for an 11 a.m. game.