Stony Brook, N.Y. – The Le Moyne men's soccer team erased two different second-half deficits on Wednesday evening to record a 3-3 draw against Stony Brook in the team's final non-conference game of the season.
Stony Brook currently sits at the top of the CAA Standings with a 4-0-2 conference resume.
The Dolphins took a 1-0 lead in the fourth minute of the match when redshirt-sophomore forward
Jakob Priestman (Leek, England/Westwood/Missouri State) put away his first career goal with the help of redshirt-sophomore midfielder
Ziad Abdul-Malak (Fayetteville-Manlius), who recorded his first career assist on the play.
The Seawolves evened the score at 1-1 in the 40
th minute when senior midfielder Trevor Harrison scored off a corner kick.
Stony Brook took its first lead of the game less than 10 minutes into the second half when junior forward Jonas Bickus tallied his seventh goal of the season.
The Dolphins quickly responded as redshirt-junior defender
Jack Goodrich (Kelsall, England/King's School Chester) drew a penalty kick for Le Moyne, then converted the PK himself to record his team-leading third goal of the campaign and tie the match at 2-2 in the 56
th minute.
After Stony Brook scored a penalty kick of their own in the 62
nd minute, the Dolphins found an equalizing goal once again just five minutes later when Abdul-Malak scored a header off a free kick from Goodrich.
Le Moyne sophomore goalkeeper
Matthew Gera (Jamesville, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt) made a crucial point-blank save late in the game to secure the 3-3 draw.
With a goal and an assist each during the match, Abdul-Malak and Goodrich both registered a career-high three points on Wednesday.
"I'm happy with the resilience we are showing throughout the season. It was a frantic [second] half, but I'm pleased with our response to come back from a goal down twice," said Le Moyne head coach
Callum Donnelly '17, M '21. "We knew Stony Brook were going to be coming into the game full of confidence as they sit top of the CAA, so we asked the players to be switched on from the start. I was happy to start the game in the fashion we did. We've had some good moments over the last few matches. We're creating some good opportunities and we just need to be more secure defensively as we go into this crucial stage of the season," Donnelly added.
Stony Brook outshot Le Moyne 15-13 during the 90 minutes, but the Dolphins had the slight edge in shots on goal by a tally of 8-7. Le Moyne's eight shots on goal ties the team's season-high that it set against Delaware, and matched during its last time out at FDU.
The Dolphins have now recorded at least 10 shots in each of their last six matches.
Wednesday's contest concluded a four-game road swing for Le Moyne, during which the squad recorded a win and two draws.
The 'Phins will return to Ted Grant Field to resume conference play against undefeated Saint Francis (4-0-5, 2-0-1 NEC) on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
"Saint Francis University will come into the match on Sunday unbeaten. They are a very well coached unit and will be a tough team to break down. We are looking forward to the challenge and to be back on home turf in what is an important conference game for us," said Donnelly.
With 41:10 left on the first half clock, Abdul-Malak received the ball in the middle of Le Moyne's attacking third and unleashed a right-footed shot about 25 yards from goal. Abdul-Malak's shot skipped across the turf, struck the left post and bounced back out into the penalty area. Priestman won the loose ball for the 'Phins, then took a touch to his right to evade a defender before hitting a shot that beat the diving goalkeeper and rolled into the right side of the net to give Le Moyne an early 1-0 lead.
Priestman's goal marked the second time this season that the Dolphins scored within the first five minutes of a match. The other occurrence was against another CAA program, Delaware, when the Dolphins put away the game's first goal less than three minutes into the contest.
Gera made his first save of the match in the 12
th minute from point-blank range when he blocked a header from Aluc Olsen inside the six-yard box.
Goodrich recorded his second shot on goal of the match in the 24
th minute when he dribbled across midfield, carried the ball forward inside a cluster of four Stony Brook defenders, and ripped a left-footed shot from the top right corner of the 18-yard box that was saved by Edmond Kaiser at the near post.
In the 40
th minute, Stony Brook junior midfielder Moses Bakabulindi sent a cross into the middle of the penalty area and the ball skipped across the turf to the chest of senior midfielder Trevor Harrison. Harrison popped the ball in the air then left his feet and smashed a left-footed shot into the ground. The ball bounced in front of the goal line then flew into the top-center portion of the net.
With just over two minutes remaining in the first half, freshman forward
Felix Ludemann (Wrestedt, Germany/Herzog-Ernst-Gymnasium Uelzen) skillfully accepted a pass in the air near the left sideline and turned around his defender, then navigated up the wing with a swarm of Stony Brook defenders surrounding him.
With a burst of pace, Ludemann created some space in the left side of the penalty area and hit a left-footed shot on the ground, but Kaiser made a kick save with his left boot.
The Dolphins put five shots on goal during the first 45 minutes, compared to two for Stony Brook, but the match remained tied 1-1 at halftime.
Stony Brook took a 2-1 lead in the 54
th minute when freshman midfielder Alex Fleury made a move towards the goal line and sent a cross to the edge of the six-yard box where Bickus got a touch on the ball and redirected it into the back of the net.
Less than two minutes later, Goodrich got the ball at midfield, then made a move past his defender, sent a pass out to the left wing for Ludemann, and continued running up the field.
Ludemann dribbled at his defender then led Goodrich with a pass into the left side of the penalty area. Kaiser came off his line and attempted to dispossess Goodrich, but Le Moyne's left back made a quick move to his left and was brought down, earning the Dolphins a penalty kick opportunity.
Goodrich took the PK himself, and smashed a left-footed shot into the upper right corner of the net. Goodrich has now converted three penalty kicks for the Dolphins this season.
The Seawolves took their second lead of the second half on a penalty kick of their own.
Bickus drew a foul in the right side of Le Moyne's penalty area in the 62
nd minute, then senior forward Olsen Aluc placed his kick into the right side of the net to record his sixth goal of the season.
With just under 24:30 remaining in the match, Le Moyne sophomore midfielder
Cameron Stuart (Fulton, N.Y./G. Ray Bodley) drew a foul near the right corner flag.
Goodrich took the free kick for the Dolphins and he sent in a left-footed cross towards the near post where Abdul-Malak flicked a header past the goalkeeper and into the left side of the net to record his second goal of the season and tie the match at 3-3.
Gera made two of his four total saves during the final seven minutes to close out the draw.
In the 84
th minute Aluc sent a dangerous cross into the box for Bickus, but Gera made a point-blank save on the one-time shot to keep the score level.
Le Moyne graduate defender
Benedict Klimmek (Kiel, Germany/RBZ am Schützenpark), who made his season debut on October 5 at FDU, made his first start of the season against Stony Brook and logged 62 minutes.
Junior forward
Michael Sparkes (Glasgow, Scotland/St. Ninians) made his season debut during the match, playing 21 minutes off the bench.
Le Moyne (1-5-5, 1-1-1) has now tallied four draws on the road, all in non-conference action. Stony Brook was the third CAA opponent that Le Moyne played during its non-conference slate. The Dolphins previously were defeated at Monmouth on September 12, then recorded a hard-fought 2-2 draw at Delaware on September 19.
Wednesday's match marked the fifth time this season that the Dolphins came back from a second-half deficit to record a draw.
Le Moyne now has five NEC matches remaining on its regular season schedule.
The Dolphins will play back-to-back home games against Saint Francis (October 15) and Merrimack (October 19) before playing consecutive away matches against Howard (October 22) and LIU (October 29). The 'Phins will conclude their regular season schedule at Ted Grant Field against Sacred Heart on November 2.
