Senior Zach Medawattage scored two goals, one of them the biggest goal of his life, in a sudden death overtime against Fort Wayne on Saturday and in doing so helped his team secure a spot in the Summit League tournament.

The goal that will define Medwattage’s career at Eastern was one he headed in off a corner kick from Federico Verlicchi just 33 seconds into overtime, giving the Eastern men’s soccer team a 2-1 win over Fort Wayne.

The goal sent the team into a frenzy of joy as they punched their tickets to the Summit League Tournament for the second year in a row.

“Definitely one of the proudest moments of my life,” Medawattage said. “Just happy we could keep the season alive.”

Medawattage knew that winning this game would not only extend the team’s season, but also his time as a Panther.

“My career would have been over had we lost, so nothing can compare to that goal,” Medawattage said. “I’ve never seen the guys that happy.”

Head coach Kiki Lara agreed, saying the game was a good release of emotion for the team and a memorable goal for the program.

“This team has deserved more in many games this year,” Lara said. “We know that. So to watch the result happen versus (Fort Wayne) and clinch a spot on the last day was very memorable for all of us.”

The win and the fashion it came in,  Medawattage said, will give the team an extra spark before the tournament begins on Nov. 9.

“Momentum is huge in this sport. We aren’t content just getting there. We’re hoping to continue making history,” he said.

Fort Wayne opened up the scoring just 16 minutes into the game when Romain Lopez scored his fourth goal on the season, assisted by Zach Tom. Lopez got a cross from the middle and scored from 10-yards out.

The score would remain 1-0 in Fort Wayne’s favor for almost an hour until Medawattage changed the course of the game and the rest of Eastern’s season in the 73rd minute.

He tied the score at 1-1 scoring his first goal also on a header assisted by Erik Isaksson.

The 1-1 score would hold through the end of regulation sending the game into overtime where Medawattage would make the season-altering goal.

Both Eastern and Fort Wayne had 11 shots in the game. Eastern had five on goal and Fort Wayne had four.

“Our attack has been clicking more and more every week,” Lara said. “The performance came down to belief from the guys in themselves and each other and focus on the detalis and our process.”

The win wraps up the regular season for both teams.

Eastern finishes the season with a 4-8-6 record, the six ties are a program record.

This is the only the second time since 2007 the Panthers have had eight or less losses in a season.

Fort Wayne will place last in the Summit League with the loss, its season record ending at 5-9-4, 0-4-1 in conference.

Eastern will begin postseason play Nov. 9 in Omaha. They will play number one seeded Denver at 2 p.m.

“In some ways it (the postseason) is a clean slate, but in some ways the next match is just another opportunity for our program to grow in our identity and our performance,” Lara said. “We are two games away from the national tournament berth and our next major team goal.”

JJ Bullock can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]