Two Goals in Final Nine Minutes Vault No. 20 UChicago Past Albion
The 20th-ranked University of Chicago men's soccer team improved to 3-1 on the season with a dramatic, come-from-behind victory over Albion. The Maroons scored two goals in the final nine minutes to seal the 2-1 win.
On a cool September night at Stagg Field, the Maroons and Britons kicked off what would be a physical battle and one of the season's most thrilling games. The Maroons had the first chance to draw first blood in the 22nd minute as Edward Wu whipped in a cross on a free kick to the foot of Chase Perry, but his flick to the near post was saved by the Albion keeper. Then, in the 31st minute, Albion found a moment of brilliance as Ryan Anderson drove a free-kick strike from 25 yards out to the upper 90 to give the Britons an early 1-0 advantage. The goal was the fifth goal allowed by the Maroons this season without a single one coming from the run of play.
UChicago would tally four more shots in the final 15 minutes of the half, none better than a beautiful strike from the top of the 18 by Jadyn Hsieh-Bailey that was corralled by the Albion keeper in a sprawling effort to keep the Maroons off the board.
In the second half, the Maroons kept their foot on the gas pedal and were awarded a free kick in a nearly identical spot to where Albion scored in the 31st minute. Wu ripped a curling strike to the far post, but the Albion keeper made another full-extension save to hold the lead. In the 57th minute, Perry had another beautiful chance as George Marin beat his defender to the end line and played a ball into the box. After the ball rattled around, it fell to the foot of Timothy Ratokhin, who laid one off to the top of the six for Perry, but he struck the crossbar to keep UChicago off the board. Then, on the rebound, Evan Kanellos had his chance at the near post, but the Albion keeper made yet another kick save to hold the one-goal advantage.
Albion had a real chance to put the game away as they broke through the UChicago defense and ripped a strike that hammered the back post and bounced away to keep the deficit at one.
UChicago continued to press and had a chance in the 76th minute as Giovanni Caselli found a ball from Hsieh-Bailey at the near post, but the Albion keeper said no once again with a full-length save. Then, in the ensuing moments, Albion had a breakaway the other way and struck the post for the second time in the half to narrowly miss the knockout punch.
In the 82nd minute, the Maroons finally found the equalizer as Perry ripped down the near-side of the pitch and played a ball into the 18 to the foot of Caselli. Caselli turned and rolled a ball through the legs of the defender and off the far post and into the net to level the score at one with his first goal since September 24, 2025, also against Albion.
UChicago nearly found the game-winner just 57 seconds later as Ratokhin slipped through the Albion defense but had his shot saved on a sliding effort by the Albion keeper. However, in the 88th minute, the Maroons finally struck paydirt as
Edward Wu delivered the game-winning goal with just 2:32 remaining on the clock. Marin had the ball on the near side and played it back to Wu, who whipped in a cross from 35 yards out. The ball flew over Kanellos, who was making a run down the middle of the pitch, past the Albion keeper, and into the net to seal the 2-1 victory for UChicago. The game-winner in the 88th minute is the latest game-winning goal for the Maroons since their winner with 44 seconds remaining against Ohio Wesleyan in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2023.
Overall in the contest, the Maroons dominated as they outshot the Britons 24-3 and tallied 9 corner kicks to Albion's 1 in the victory.
With the win, the Maroons improve to 3-1 overall on the season.