Men’s Soccer Plays to 1-1 Draw
(September 1, 2009) - Morrisville, NY - The Green Mountain College men's soccer team opened their 2009 campaign with a hard-fought double-overtime 1-1 draw at Morrisville St. Tuesday afternoon. The match was the first for both teams who sit at (0-0-1).
The Mustang struck first in the 34th minute when the Eagles conceded a penalty kick. Freshman goalkeeper Nate Kishbaugh (Niskayuna, NY) was able to get a hand on the ensuing shot, but couldn't prevent sophomore Andrew Stein (Oswego, NY) from opening his scoring account.
Both sides traded bouts of sustained possession and pressure throughout the first half. The Eagles created a number of quality scoring opportunities, but couldn't find the equalizer sending the teams to the interval with Morrisville holding a 1-0 advantage.
GMC increased their pressure during the opening moments of the second half and in the 56th minute sophomore Tim Atwood (Fryeburg, ME) leveled the contest. Chris Gaskin (Atlanta, GA) drove a well-placed free-kick from 35 yards and Atwood rose above the defending Mustang's to finish.
The final 30 minutes of the match featured a flurry of activity and chances for both teams forcing defenders to be sharp and the goalkeepers to turn away a number of opportunities. GMC net-minder Kishbaugh stopped two dangerous chances inside the box in the final ten minutes while, with extra-time looming large, Gaskin narrowly missed breaking the deadlock in the dying moments.
During extra-time, both sides had quality bids for match-winners, but had to settled for a draw.
Coach Mitchell was pleased with his teams' performance. "We have a young squad and fielded 7 freshmen in the first 11 today. They acquitted themselves well and, at times, kept the ball and rolled it around the park. I think it was important for us to get a result from the first match and we now know how to move forward in training. The young men worked very hard today and you cannot ask for more than that."
The Eagles return to action Saturday, September 5th when they host King's College (PA) in their home opener at 4:00 pm.
