MARS HILL, N.C. --- Tusculum University and Mars Hill University played to a 1-1 draw in South Atlantic Conference men's soccer action Saturday night at Meares Stadium.
The Pioneers (1-1-1, 0-1-1 SAC), who were playing their first game in 23 days while observing the SAC Return to Play protocol, answered a goal from the Lions' Fabio Berrer in the 15th minute with a goal from Damien Baltide in the 28th minute.
The teams would play the final 83 minutes without a goal, although Tusculum outshot Mars Hill 18-13 in the match and 5-0 in overtime. The Lions (2-1-2, 2-1-1 SAC) defeated the Pioneers 1-0 in their previous meeting on Feb. 25 in Greeneville.
Each team had a shot on goal in the first five minutes, then neither team would threaten until the Lions broke through exactly 15 minutes into the first half. Sebastian Bertilsson, who scored the only goal in the Lions' win at Tusculum last month, crossed a ball for Berrer who buried his first goal of the season for a 1-0 Mars Hill lead.
The lead would stand up until 27:05 when Jean-Pierre Vital played a ball wide left to Baltide, who beat Mars Hill keeper Brennan Whalen to level the score at 1-1. Baltide had a strong scoring chance late in the first half, but was denied by Whalen as the match stayed even at intermission.
It took 10 minutes of the second half for the first shot attempt, but Tusculum keeper Joao Kozlowski was able to collect the attempt from Jeppe Christensen. Both teams began to apply pressure, but each side put shots well off target as the match passed the hour mark. Inside the final two minutes, the Pioneers earned a corner kick and nearly collected the game-winner, but a one-timer from Pedro Bolizan was cleared off the line.
Tusculum had the only three shot attempts of the first overtime period, with Whalen making saves on Vital in the first minute and Marcos Franco midway through the session. The second overtime featured long runs but little in the way of scoring chances, with the final Tusculum attempt from Vital going high and a last play to the box from the Lions directed out by the Pioneer defense.
The Pioneers ended the match with a 7-5 edge in shots on goal, and the Pioneers took all eight corner kicks in the contest. The referee's whistle was well-used, with the Lions called for 22 fouls to 13 by the Pioneers with a total of four bookings.
Kozlowski finished with four saves in goal for the Pioneers, while Whalen had six saves for the Lions. Three of the four saves from Kozlowski came in the opening half, while Whalen had four saves after halftime.
The Pioneers will have little rest time as they will turn around and travel to Lincoln Memorial on Monday, March 22 for a 3:30 p.m. match with the Railsplitters. Lincoln Memorial is 1-2 overall and in conference play, having dropped two in a row to Mars Hill (3-0) and Carson-Newman (1-0).
- TU -
