The Simpson College men’s soccer team used some late heroics on Wednesday night at Buxton Stadium to tie with Luther College, 1-1. 

Simpson now sits at 5-6-7 on the season, and Luther moved to 6-2-6.

The first half of the game was dominated by defense, as neither team scored any points, and Luther controlled the ball on Simpson’s side for the majority of the half. 

Luther broke through first in the 58th minute with a goal from Nels Mortenson to put them up 1-0. 

Finally, in the 83rd minute, conference-leading scorer senior Mitchell Dickson scored on an assist from junior Grant Strickler to tie the game 1-1.

“My only thought was hey, I got to get to this spot and be there so if the ball gets across, I’m there, and that’s what happened,” Dickson said.

Simpson made some changes after Luther scored the first goal to maximize the opportunity to tie the game.

“We changed our formation, made a couple of subs, and it actually worked in our favor and helped us get a goal,” Dickson said. 

The last eight minutes were back and forth as both teams tried to make a last-second miracle, but both efforts fell short. 

Junior goalkeeper Nate Hersom talked about the mentality of the team after going down 1-0.

“It’s go time, you can’t sit and ponder on the goal, you’ve got to get the team up, you’ve got to get the energy up,” Hersom said. “We had, what, 15-20 minutes left to give everything we’ve got and just got to go from there.”

Dickson explained how well the team executed throughout the game.

“Our coaches gave us a great game plan and we followed that to a tee,” Dickson said. “We knew our chances would be limited and all we needed to do was put one of those away and we’d get a good result.” 

With only four total shots on goal between the two teams, it was clear how big a role organization played for both teams throughout the game.

“This was a big game where organization was key, and we knew it was going to be,” Hersom said. “They were on our half a lot, so organization was key, and it wasn’t just me it was the rest of the team.” 

With the tie, the Storms’ conference tournament hopes are still alive and are looking for a little help around the league.

“We may need a little bit of help from other teams to make the conference tournament, but that is not out of possibility,” Dickson said. “Then it’s just we got to play our best soccer at the right time and win two or three games and then hopefully make the national tournament.”

The Storm soccer team will be in action next at Loras on Nov. 1 for the A-R-C Tournament Quarterfinals.