FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Siena College men’s head coach Cesar Markovic couldn’t have scripted a much more dramatic finish for his 200th career victory Saturday.
Senior striker Alexander Tejera scored the golden goal with five seconds remaining in te second extratime as the Saints shocked Sacred Heart University, 2-1.
In his fifth season at Siena, Markovic, who is well known in New York and New Jersey soccer, had accumulated his first victories covering an 18-year span at four other institutions, including Saint Peter’s College, Stony Brook University, NJIT and his alma mater, Hunter College (Division III).
Freshman midfielder Alejandro Riquelme also scored for Siena (1-2-3), which prevailed despite being outshot, 25-9. Senior goalkeeper Aleksa Radosavljevic made seven saves for the Saints, who extended their program record extratime streak to eight consecutive matches.
Riley Sullivan staked Sacred Heart (2-5) to a quick 1-0 advantage 5:46 into the match. But Riquelme found the equalizer for Siena in the 26th minute as he made a nifty play 1 v 1 in the box and finished his second goal this season.
With the Saints seemingly destined for their sixth tie in their last eight matches dating back to last season, Siena broke through for its first win of the season.
The Saints turned up the pressure in the closing 20 seconds and their hard work paid off. After a cross into the box that was knocked out, junior back Adel Cekic corralled the loose ball. Cekic sent another cross into the penalty area that connected with Tejera. Tejera’s shot deflected off the crossbar to give Markovic his milestone win.
