ANDERSON, S.C. --- After 110 minutes of action, Tusculum University and Anderson University finished in a scoreless draw in South Atlantic Conference men's soccer action Saturday night.
The Pioneers (6-5-1, 4-2-1 SAC) moved into sole possession of second place in the SAC standings with the draw, despite being outshot 17-13 by the Trojans (3-4-3, 2-2-3 SAC). Anderson outshot Tusculum 7-5 in a wild overtime that included a red card against the Trojans and a premature extinguishing of the lights that necessitated a 20-minute delay until they cycled back to full power.
Alejandro Quiriti made four saves to earn his sixth shutout of the season, which moves him into a tie for sixth place on the program single-season list. His seven career shutouts for Tusculum are tied for fifth all-time with J.P. Swaminathan, who had seven clean sheets from 2003 to 2005.
A largely uneventful first half featured six shot attempts for the Pioneers and two for the Trojans, with Quiriti making one save for the Pioneers and Gal Elyashiv stopping two shots for the Trojans.
Anderson carried the play for large portions of the second half, but saw few opportunities against the Tusculum goal. The final shot attempt of regulation for either team came from Shawn Foster, whose effort with just under eight minutes to play was collected by Elyashiv.
Early in the first overtime, the Trojans had a player sent off on a straight red card for a hard foul in front of the Pioneer goal. Playing a man up, the Pioneers were unable to put a shot on target in the remainder of the first extra period. That overtime session was halted with 3:55 remaining when the stadium lights turned off at 10 p.m., and the teams resumed play after a 20-minute delay in the action.
Looking for the winning goal in the second overtime, the Pioneers' Ayuk Tambe and Dario Ljubic were stopped by Elyashiv on shot attempts. Quiriti made a save on a try by the Trojans' Ryan Tyrer midway through the second extra period, and a late corner by Anderson produced nothing.
The scoreless tie was the first for the Pioneers since Sept. 13 of last season against Lincoln Memorial, and their first on the road since Oct. 27, 2012 at Wingate.
Anderson finished the game with five corner kicks to three for Tusculum, and each team was called for 18 fouls apiece. The Pioneers were flagged four times for offsides, compared to three for the Trojans.
Elyashiv finished with six saves in goal for the Trojans, who played their fourth overtime match in their last five contests, with three ending in a draw.
Tusculum will return to the road on Wednesday, Oct. 17 at Lincoln Memorial beginning at 3:30 p.m.
