GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum University and Lenoir-Rhyne University played to a 1-1 draw in South Atlantic Conference men's soccer action Sunday afternoon at Pioneer Field.
The Bears (7-3-1, 5-2-1 SAC) opened the scoring in the third minute on a goal from Victor Cascon, but the Pioneers (1-8-2, 0-6-2 SAC) responded in the 34th minute as Damien Baltide scored for the third straight game. The teams then played the final 57 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods without further scoring.
Lenoir-Rhyne outshot Tusculum 19-13, but the Pioneer defense came through with three saves on the back line, including consecutive saves in the 67th minute and another clear in the 85th minute. Pioneer keeper Rayane El Mehdi made nine saves of his own in the draw, while Camden Coleman had four stops for the Bears.
Cascon opened the scoring at 2:40 as he fired a shot from 20 yards that beat El Mehdi at the crossbar. Lenoir-Rhyne had the first five shots of the match, with El Mehdi making stops on Jaime Poza on the first shot and Jaime De Manuel on the rebound in the ninth minute.
Tusculum's first shot attempt came in the 13th minute as Pedro Concheso rolled a one-timer in on Coleman. Lenoir-Rhyne nearly went up 2-0 in the 24th minute, but an offsides flag erased a goal from the Bears' Javier Moya. In the 28th minute, El Mehdi made a save on Miquel Montano and followed up 15 seconds later by punching over a 35-yard blast from Moya off a Tusculum turnover.
The Pioneers tied the score at 1-1 at 33:09 as a corner kick from Rodrigo Pascual came to Baltide in front. His initial shot was blocked by the Lenoir-Rhyne defense, but the rebound came back to him and he scored his third goal of the season to knot the contest.
El Mehdi stayed busy in the latter minutes of the half, punching a sliding redirection from Nicolas Bohigues over the crossbar in the 38th minute. Lenoir-Rhyne outshot Tusculum 9-5 in the first half, but six saves from El Mehdi helped keep the score tied at 1-1.
Both teams found contentment in a defensive posture for the first 20 minutes of the second half. In the 67th minute, the Bears' Poza drew El Mehdi off his line and fired a shot that was cleared away by Xavi Sandoica. Poza had a chance at the rebound, but the Pioneers' Dani Gongora blocked the attempt to preserve the tie.
Tusculum nearly grabbed the lead in the 73rd minute as Ignacio Alconchel took a cross and launched a diving header toward the Lenoir-Rhyne goal, but Coleman was able to get in front to stop the shot. On the ensuing corner kick, a long service by Rodrigo Pascual went through the mass of players in front to Adam O'Sullivan, but his shot back toward the post was just wide.
El Mehdi went back to work later in the half, making a sliding save on a give-and-go with Moya in the 79th minute, then punching away a blast from 25 yards by Moya in the 83rd minute. With five minutes left, the Bears' Diego Delgado was in position to collect a loose ball with El Mehdi on the ground, but his chip shot was headed off the line by Sandoica.
In the first overtime period, Lenoir-Rhyne's Cascon had the best opportunity as he broke down the left side and fired a shot that may have grazed the fingertips of El Mehdi as it carried just wide of the far post. The Bears had all three shots of the second overtime period, with the only attempt on goal from Moya with 1:16 left that was pulled in by El Mehdi.
Lenoir-Rhyne finished with an 8-3 advantage in corner kicks over Tusculum, including three in the second overtime period. Both teams were called for 11 fouls, while Lenoir-Rhyne was caught offsides by the Tusculum defense a total of 10 times.
The Pioneers will visit Wingate for their final road match of the regular season on Saturday, Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m. Wingate holds the eighth and final position for the SAC Tournament with 10 points, following a 2-1 loss to Anderson on Saturday night.
