Men's soccer finishes with 1-1 draw against Lincoln Memorial

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Jonathan Spicher scored the equalizer in the 78th minute, and Tusculum College came away with a 1-1 draw against Lincoln Memorial in South Atlantic Conference men's soccer action from Pioneer Field on Wednesday night.

Tusculum (4-1-1, 1-0-1 SAC) trailed 1-0 after LMU's (5-0-1, 2-0-1) Philip Wong scored on a free kick from 20 yards out in the 72nd minute. Seven minutes later, Guillermo Lazcano served a pass into the box, which found the chest of Andre De Giorgi. The ball ricocheted to the feet of Spicher who blasted the ball on the ground past Railsplitter goalkeeper Pedro Ozi to tie the match at 1-1.

TC goalkeeper Jorge Alvarez made five saves, but was issued a red card on a hand ball outside the box with three minutes remaining in the second overtime period. Ashley Elsey finished the match in net for the Pioneers and made a key save on a breakaway by LMU's Lucas Coro in the match's final minute to preserve the tie.

The Pioneers had 15 shots on goal with eight on frame led by Gary Dunlop and De Giorgi, who had two each. Pablo Laguna and Andreas Kvam had two shot with one on goal. Wong led the Railsplitters with four shots while Henrique Rezek and Nick Spielmam each had three. Ozi finished with seven saves.

After a scoreless first half, LMU opened the second period with an offensive furry while playing with just 10 men. The Railsplitters registered two shots on goal in the first six minutes after the break while Alvarez fought off three corner kicks.

Dunlop had the first shot on goal of the half for TC in the 52nd minute but was stopped by Ozi. With the score tied at 1-1, TC had a chance for a corner kick in the waning seconds of regulation but couldn't get it off before heading to overtime.

In the first extra frame neither side registered a shot on frame. LMU had a pair of shots but both were wide of the net. Each side also had a corner kick but neither could convert.

In the second overtime, Ricardo De Silva found a cross in the 103rd minute and headed a shot towards the goal, but it was high. Kyle Dickson and Dominic McLaren each had corner kicks in the final three minutes for TC but both were fought away by the Railsplitter defense. LMU's only chance in the final stanza was Coro's breakaway that was saved by Elsey.

The physical contest saw TC whistled for 20 fouls and LMU had eight. LMU's Nathanial Johnson was issued a red card two minutes before halftime. McKenna was shown two yellow cards and had to exit the game in the second overtime period. The Pioneers finished the match with nine men after Alvarez was forced to leave the match.

Tusculum will be back in action on Saturday at home versus Anderson University. The match is set to begin at 6 p.m.