NEWBERRY, S.C. --- Tusculum and Newberry played to a 1-1 draw in South Atlantic Conference men's soccer action Saturday afternoon at the Smith Road Complex.
The Pioneers (1-4-4, 1-2-2 SAC) played their second consecutive draw and fifth overtime match of the season. With the tie, Tusculum set a program single-season record with four draws, breaking the mark of three set in 1993 and matched five times since then, most recently in 2014. The Pioneers had not played back-to-back ties since 1991 against Gardner-Webb and Tennessee Wesleyan.
Ivan Andabak scored in the 17th minute for the Pioneers, only to see Till Neumann respond in the 25th minute for the Wolves (2-4-2, 2-2-1 SAC) to level the score at 1-1. The Wolves finished the match with a 17-16 edge in shots, and an 8-5 advantage in shots on goal against the Pioneers.
Tusculum's Renato Skoko had the first shot on goal with a header in the 11th minute, but Newberry keeper Brad Dixon came up with the save. The Wolves put their first shot on the Pioneer net just under a minute later, only to see Tusculum keeper Alejandro Quiriti make the stop.
Andabak converted at 16:30 following a Tusculum corner kick for his second goal of the season and a 1-0 Pioneer lead. The lead would last for just over eight minutes, as Neumann scored his seventh of the season off an assist by Tobias Henriksen to even the score at 1-1 at 24:10.
Tusculum outshot Newberry 7-6 in the first half, but each team only had two shots on goal in the opening 45 minutes. The Pioneers held a 4-2 edge in corner kicks in the first half.
Newberry applied early pressure in the second half, with shots in the 47th and 50th minutes that were stopped by Quiriti. Dixon was called upon to make saves for the Wolves on the Pioneers' Connor Green and Jonny Winter in the 60th minute.
The Wolves had a chance to take a 2-1 lead in the 82nd minute, but a shot from Claus Lehland went off the post. The last shot on goal of regulation came from Newberry's Fabrizio Bucco in the 83rd minute, but was stopped by Quiriti.
Tusculum had an 8-7 edge in shots in the second half and went to overtime with a 15-13 lead in shots. The Wolves had six shots on goal in regulation to five by the Pioneers, while Tusculum had a commanding 9-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Both teams were forced to play a man down in overtime after red cards were shown to one player from each side midway through the first extra period. Bucco had the only shot on goal in the first overtime, which was stopped by Quiriti with 4:50 left. Bucco also had a shot on goal with 4:10 left in the second overtime, which was also saved by Quiriti.
Quiriti finished the match with seven saves for the Pioneers, while Dixon had four stops for the Wolves. Tusculum finished with a 10-3 edge in corner kicks, and the Pioneers were whistled for 15 fouls to 13 by the Wolves.
Tusculum will step out of conference play on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. against Lees-McRae at Pioneer Field.
