DANVILLE, Va. ­— Freshman David Cuperman celebrated his first collegiate goal in style, providing the golden boot that lifted the Averett men's soccer team to a thrilling 3-2, double-overtime victory against conference foe Piedmont College on Saturday.
 
Five minutes into the second overtime period, Piedmont (2-4-2, 1-2 USA South) fouled Averett (2-6, 1-1 USA South) right outside the box. Cuperman stepped up, picked his spot and buried his shot into the upper 90, giving the Cougars their second walk-off victory of the season.
 
Averett appeared to have the game sown up going into the 86th minute. However, a foul at the 18-yard line gave the Lions a free look at goal. Colin Little found Chase Kane and Kane buried a header into the back of the net to knot the score at 2-2.
 
The Cougars pressured the Lions' backline early causing Piedmont to foul senior Jordan Palma in the box, giving Averett a penalty kick. Palma made good on his attempt, burying his shot in the lower left corner of the goal, putting the Cougars up 1-0 just a 1:23 into the game. Piedmont hung in tough, finding an equalizer at the 28:51 mark when Cullen Copland took a pass from Chris Bible and found the net to tie the game at 1-1.
 
After the first 17 minutes of the second half saw a battle in the midfield, freshman Jov Hall scored his first collegiate goal, heading in a ball sent off a corner kick by senior Jordan Palma to put the Cougars ahead 2-1 in the 62nd minute.
 
The Cougars posted a season-high 28 shots on the game. Cuperman led the way with six shots, while sophomore Tobias Andreasson posted four. Averett also got solid offensive performances from freshmen Jake Searcy and Felix Squire who had three looks on goal. Junior Leed Petit-Frere chipped in with a solid offensive performance off the bench, adding three shots.
 
Senior John Matrisciano picked up the win in goal, recording five saves.
 
Averett has a week off before it returns to action at Greensboro College on Oct. 3 at 4:30 p.m.