ALFRED, NY – Mitch Beattie (Maitland, Ontario, St. Mary Catholic) scored his second goal of the night just minutes into overtime to give the Houghton College Highlanders (7-6-1, 3-2-1 Empire 8) a much-needed 2-1 conference victory over the Alfred University Saxons (10-4-2, 3-2-1 Empire 8) on Saturday night.
 
The win moves the Highlanders into a tie for third-place with Alfred in the Empire 8 standings.  Since Houghton won the head-to-head matchup tonight they would hold the tiebreaker should the teams remain in those positions after the regular season concludes next weekend.
 
After a scoreless first half in which the Saxons outshot the Highlanders 12-5, Alfred drew first blood in the 59^th minute when Graeme Corrigan hit fellow Saxon Omar Mohamed in the chest with a shot on goal.  Mohamed turned and wrapped a shot inside the right post to give the Saxons the lead.
 
From that point on the Saxons would not place another shot on net.
 
Just over eight minutes later Nic Loew (Center Valley, PA, Southern Lehigh) crossed a ball into the Alfred box from the right side and Beattie got enough of his foot on it to redirect it past the keeper for his first goal of the season, knotting the score at one.
 
Beattie's heroics, though, had only just begun.
 
With only 2:14 elapsed in the overtime period Beattie made another run through the seam into the opposing box.  Tyler Ashley (Landisville, PA, Hempfield) slid a perfect through-ball past the defender, hitting Beattie in full-stride.  A quick shot around the diving keeper and the Highlanders had completed their victory.
 
"I was incredibly pleased with how we played tonight," said Houghton coach Matthew Webb. "Alfred is a very good team and they have a pair of talented players up front that we held in check all night.  We made an adjustment to our formation and it was great to see our players execute."
 
Coach Webb gave special kudos to defensive back Landon Sheaffer (Richfield, PA, East Juniata), noting "…he may have played his best game of the year tonight."
 
Houghton keeper Jacob Dunnett (Quispamsis, New Brunswick, Kennebecasis) collected six saves on the night, while the Saxons received three from Chris Gutierez and two more from their defenders.
 
The Highlander return to the pitch on Tuesday as they take on the Lancaster Bible Chargers at 5:00 p.m. on Burke Field.