Drury's remarkable soccer season added another thrilling chapter on Friday night, as the nationally third-ranked Panthers rallied with two goals in the game's final seven minutes - including the game-winner from senior Steve Wilzcewski just over a minute into overtime - to beat Bellarmine 3-2 in their Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament semifinal at Harrison Stadium.
The top-seeded Panthers (19-1-0) will now get another shot at No. 2 seed Northern Kentucky (15-4-2) when they square off Sunday at noon for the GLVC championship.
NKU - which beat third-seeded Lewis 4-2 in penalty kicks to win the opening semifinal Friday - handed Drury its only loss of the season, a 2-1 decision at Harrison on Oct. 16.
The Panthers are in the finals thanks to junior Ben Hamilton's first career DU goal with just over six minutes left in regulation that knotted the score at 2-2 and forced the overtime.
It didn't take long from there, as Wilczewski scored off a breakaway and a pass from junior Micah Whorton, knocking it into the net from 15 yards out to set off a mad celebration as the entire Panthers' squad raced toward the large student body on hand in the crowd of 552 at Harrison.
It was Wilczewski's 15th goal of the season - tying Whorton, whose first-half goal put the Panthers up 1-0 at the break - and 33rd of his career, second most in DU history. Whorton had two assists in the contest, setting a new single-season Drury mark with 14, one more than teammate Ben Taylor had last season.
It was also Wilczewski's second game-winner in two tries this season against Bellarmine; his early overtime goal gave DU a 2-1 victory in Louisville over the Knights on Oct. 11.
And it happened so fast in the extra period that, well, DU head coach Ryan Swan didn't see it.
After half-jokingly telling his players "let me know if we score" at the start of the overtime period, Swan simply had to retreat briefly to a Port-A-Pottie behind the team's bench when the Panthers came up with the game-winner and set off the roar heard around campus.
"I think I've been drinking a lot more water when I get nervous, so I put this one on the guys," Swan said with a laugh. "When I told them to 'let me know if we score,' they said, 'oh, you'll know.' I heard it ... and I came out just in time to see the celebration."
The Panthers dominated possession throughout the game, out-shooting the Knights by a 21-9 count. Bellarmine's first goal came less than two minutes into the second half when Bradley Barraclough scored off a Ross Hopkins assist on a breakaway, and took a 2-1 lead in the 65th minute when Jordan Beckles scored off a Justin Klenke assist from 10 yards out.
"We always have confidence in our ability to score goals, and we always believe we're going to pull it out," Swan said. "Ben Hamilton came up huge."
The Glendale Connection took over, as Springfield Glendale products Hamilton - a junior college transfer from Meramec - and Wilczewski delivered the Panthers into the finals, where they'll get their chance for revenge against the Norse.
"I think our guys will be excited about that one," Swan said.
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