BETHANY, W.Va, - The Thiel College men's soccer team tied their Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) opener on Wednesday night by a final score of 1-1 after two-overtime periods.
The Tomcats were able to survive 14 first half shots and allowed no goals to make it 0-0 at the half. The Tomcats were only able to collect two shots of their own in the first half.
The first half did see three yellow cards, two of which were on Thiel as
Hunter Young (Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) was carded in the 27th minute and
Frank Jackson (Mt. Lebanon, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) in the 43rd minute. Bethany's Bernardo Vilchis also received a yellow card in the 37'.
The second half saw far more balanced attacks from both offenses as Thiel registered 10 shots to Bethany's 11.
Tomcat goalkeeper
Christian Conrad (Barberton, Ohio/Central Catholic) was able to keep a clean sheet until the 62nd minute as Vilchis took advantage of turnover caused by Luis Arteaga to finish a ball inside the box to make it 1-0.
With a 1-0 Bison lead the game could have been decided in the 68th minute as Thiel gave up a penalty kick, but Conrad came up with a clutch save to keep the game at 1-0.
Shortly thereafter, Jackson scored an equalizer in the 71st minute to make it 1-1. Jackson ripped the ball from deep in the left part on the box on to the top right corner of the goal. Each side would trade opportunities after the tying goal as well as yellow cards as Ian Hayhurst collected one for the Bison in the 84th minute and
Connor Swatts (Greenwood, Ind./Whiteland Community) collected one for the Tomcats in the 88th minute.
The game went to overtime tied 1-1. An early corner to start the first overtime proved to be Thiel's only opportunity in the period as a
Tyler Novak (Oberlin, Ohio/Open Door Christian) header went wide of the net. Bethany answered with three shots on goal which were all saved by Conrad as the game moved into a second and final overtime.
In the final period, The Tomcat were able to fend another fury of Bison offense but were unable to come with a game-winner themselves as the game ended 1-1 final after 110 minutes.
Conrad on the night allowed just one goal and collected a game-high 14 saves. The Tomcats collected a total of 14 shots on the night of which seven were on target.
Zachary Oliver (Bridgeport, Ohio/St. Clairsville) led the offense with four shots.
With the tie, the Tomcats are now 3-5-1 and 0-0-1 in the PAC. Thiel will face Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa. on Sunday, kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
