MORRIS, Minn. --- Crown Men's Soccer team competed up at Morris in the first round of the UMAC Playoffs on Monday afternoon, facing the UM-Morris Cougars. Looking like a 1-2 loss, a late goal by senior Storm Heyer in the 89th minute forced overtime. After neither team scored in the two overtime periods, Crown and Morris headed to penalty kicks, where the Storm defeated the Cougars 4-2 for the victory. This win is Crown's first NCAA-era men's soccer playoff win. 

Through the first half, the match remained scoreless. It wasn't until the forward Heyer found the back of the net in the 63rd minute to break the tie and give Crown the lead. Unfortunately, in the 71st minute, the Cougars countered with a goal of their own. Morris added a second goal in the 79th minute to take the lead for the first time with only 21 minutes remaining. The Cougars looked like they were going to hold the lead for the rest of the game, but with under one minute remaining, Heyer once again found an opening, taking a loose ball to the left side for the game-tying score. 

In the first overtime period, senior keeper Eli Etzel quickly doubled his save count with two quick saves to keep Crown in the game. The Storm and Cougars both couldn't find a way to score, causing the match to go to the second overtime period. In the second overtime period, Crown had their chances with four corner kicks in a four-minute span, without finding a score. Next, the Storm then went to penalty kicks (PKs) with the Cougars. 

In PKs, junior Mason Shrewsbury found the back of the net for the first score, which the Cougars matched. Then fellow junior Jason Kragt scored on his attempt (which the Morris goalkeeper tipped), and Etzel had a save against Morris to give Crown the lead 2-1. Next up, senior Ger Jones scored, and the Cougars matched once again; Crown held a lead 3-2. Then the senior Heyer hit in the ball off the crossbar for a save for UM-Morris. However, Etzel picked up another save to give Crown a 4-2 lead. Last up, Harvey Holcombe scored to grab Crown the win, up two with one shot remaining for the Cougars.  

"Such an amazing moment for the program and all the players involved," said Jones, one of the players that scored a penalty kick. "To have the heart to level things up with under a minute left and then step up to win it in a shootout shows how much we wanted this win as a team!"

Heyer's goals were his second and third postseason goals of his collegiate career, the last coming in the first round against Martin Luther in 2016, another overtime matchup. Crown had one card in the game, a yellow card in the 85th minute on senior Kirby Shetler. Senior keeper Eli Etzel had four saves and two goals allowed in the match (not including penalty kicks). While most stats in the matchup were fairly even between the two squads, Crown forced eleven corner kicks, while Morris only had three. Jones led Crown with four shots in the match.

"It feels incredible to make history for Crown with the boys," said Heyer. "Hats off to the coaching staff and players trusting the process and staying persistent with our goal of winning a playoff game."

Crown advances to the UMAC semi-finals for a matchup with the UW-Superior Yellowjackets in Wisconsin on Wednesday.