Phantoms Battle to 4-3 Comeback Win Over Northampton

Picture Ted Lasso's iconic yellow sign with BELIEVE lettered in blue and you'll see how the blue-and-yellow DCCC Phantoms elevated themselves to an eleventh-hour victory over the Northampton Spartans. Michael Haley's penalty kick gave Delaware County Community College men's soccer the 4-3 edge with seconds to spare.

Haley's final goal was his third of the day and the completion of that hat trick was hard earned. Taking the initial penalty kick as the clock wound down, Haley found the back of the net, but the goal was disallowed with an encroachment call on the Phantoms. Haley reset, relaunched, and calmly drilled the ball low and left past the Northampton keeper.

"It was like a movie," said DCCC Student Government Association (SGA) President Saroor Dhanju. "So exciting!" SGA supports the team as fans and with spirit programs.

Trailing 2-0 at the half after Spartan goals from Wisdom Ntona and Elijah Eljiofor, the Phantoms broke through with Haley's first goal at the 53-minute mark and went on to outscore Northampton 4-1 the rest of the way. Abdul Sheriff, the Phantoms' leading scorer, tied the game at 3-3 to set up Haley for the win.

The Phantoms had entered this game shorthanded following a much-penalized contest at RCSJ Cumberland, losing 3-2, but came home ready to play. "Even though we were missing two of our starters, we had talked a lot about who we are and how one game doesn't define us, and then everybody stepped up and did their part," said DCCC Head Coach Andrew Flood.

"We continued to battle when we were down, with the belief that we were the better team, and we showed heart and dedication through the entire 90 minutes," said Flood. He credits Haley for stepping up as a leader on the field and playing a big part in sustaining that belief, and Tyrel Jacobs for moving to a defensive role in this game to help the team.

The win lifts Delaware County men's soccer back to .500 overall and to 4-3-0 in the region. Next, the Phantoms host the 9-0-0 Camden Cougars at the DCCC Marple Soccer Field (901 S Media Line Rd, Media) on October 3 and travel locally to take on Williamson Trade on October 6.