Luckson Dambo gets golden goal to upend Seahawks with six seconds remaining; Scots CCC Champs

NEWPORT, R.I. (November 6, 2021) - Senior midfielder Luckson Dambo (Belmont, Mass.) converted a long pass from freshman Cole Levis (Newtown Square, Pa.) for the golden goal with six seconds left in the second overtime to lift Gordon College to a 2-1 victory in the 2021 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Men's Soccer Championship, dethroning defending champion and host Salve Regina University at Toppa Field on Saturday afternoon.

Along with the Scots' concrete defense, senior goalkeeper Brody Veleber (Coatesville, Pa.) racked up a season-high 10 saves, holding the Seahawks to just one goal in almost 110 minutes of action. The Fighting Scots climbed their way back from the No. 4 seed after defeating No. 5 Western New England University (3-2) and upsetting No. 1 Endicott College (3-2) to lock in their spot in the finals. The last time the Scots held the trophy was in 2018 when they bested Roger Williams University, similarly, with an overtime goal.

Despite being a scoreless first half, the game started out with both fans on edge. Powerful and skillful kicks derived from each squad's offense while both goalies held their own to block everything that came their way.

Coming back from the half, the Fighting Scots (12-5-2) got on the board first with a beautifully placed ball from senior Ryan Modzeleski (Cazenovia, N.Y.) up close and personal to the keeper, senior Nathan Reid (Magnolia, Del.).

However, exactly 30 minutes later the Seahawks matched Gordon with a goal of their own after senior Alessandro Oggiano (Stoughton, Mass.) placed the ball in the top right corner to tie it up 1-1, forcing the nail-biting match into overtime. Oggiano's score was his team-leading 14th goal of the season, as he found the back of the net in 10 of his team's last 14 games.

The first overtime was not enough to decide the winner, as a result, the teams were forced to show their stamina with yet another intense period of double overtime. With fans predicting the match to come down to penalty kicks, Gordon's Luckson Dambo ended the game with six ticks to go with a heart-stopping touch past the keeper to smoothly finish an open net goal to hoist the trophy for the Scots.

Gordon wins its third CCC title since 2015 and today was the third meeting against Salve Regina (12-6-3) in a championship setting, including back-to-back titles in 1992 and 1993. Today was their sixth title overall.

With the big win, the Scots earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament. Continuing their journey, Gordon's next match will be announced on Monday, November 8, during the NCAA DIII Selection Show, airing at 1:30 p.m. (ET) on NCAA.com.