Men's Soccer: Raiders drawing to conclusions
A goal from junior Oli Templeton in the 87th minute on Saturday night allowed the Shippensburg University men’s soccer team to pull out a 1-1 draw after two scoreless overtimes with No. 12 University of Charleston from David See Field.
The Raiders finished with 14 shots to UC’s 21, and were held scoreless thanks to seven saves from the Golden Eagles’ standout goalie, senior Sean Teepen. The Raiders’ had a clutch performer in net as well, however, as sophomore Kevin Hollasch — making his first career start and just his second career appearance, played the entire 110 minutes and made seven saves as well, including several impressive stops.
After an SU foul at the 68th minute, UC’s Rob Vincent ended the scoring drought with a shot he sent untouched on a free kick from the left side.
With time winding down and the Raiders desperate to connect on an equalizer, junior Jonathan DeNicola sent in a corner kick from the right side that found the forehead of Templeton on the left side of the goal. Templeton headed the ball down just past the legs of junior Patrick Urmson and Teepen for the tying score just before the 88th minute.
Two minutes later, DeNicola had an opportunity for a potential game-winning goal just before the end of regulation. He received a cross from the right side and found himself alone with Teepen in front of the goal, but DeNicola’s shot sailed just over the crossbar.
Templeton and junior Casey Bellamy each had shots saved by Teepen in the first overtime period. Neither team managed a shot on goal in the second overtime.
The Raiders played a man down beginning just 10 minutes into the second half after receiving a red card. UC also lost a player beginning with the last 1:05 remaining in regulation. In total, the two teams combined for four yellow cards and two red cards in the second half after just one yellow card in the first half.
SU travels to West Virginia Wesleyan College on Friday for a 7 p.m. match in the team’s final non-conference tune-up before PSAC play begins.
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