Gordon College Men's Soccer traveled to Rhode Island this afternoon to face the Seahawks of Salve Regina in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play, battling through 90 minutes and two overtimes to end knotted at 1-1. The draw adds more drama to the final matchups of CCC competition next week– Gordon at Curry and Salve home against Nichols on Tuesday– as Salve and Gordon currently hold the second and third spots, respectively.
The Scots looked poised to strike first on an impressive five corner kicks within a three-minute span, but the Seahawks' defense denied all shots on those opportunities to keep Gordon off the board. The momentum then shifted to Salve when Owen Stevenson (So./Middletown, Conn.) knocked home a Conor Woods (Sr./Otisville, N.Y.) feed to put Salve up 1-0 in the 20th minute. The remainder of the first half was back-and-forth as both teams battled but neither was able to capitalize, leaving Salve with the slight edge going into the final 45 minutes.
The second half was much of the same with both teams trading chances, but just when it seemed that Salve was going to come away with the victory, Gordon's Ryan Modzeleski found the back of the net for the equalizer with his first career goal off a pass from Stephen Heintz with eight minutes left in regulation.
That was all the offense either team could find, however, and the game was left after 20 minutes of extra time at a gritty 1-1 draw. This marks the first tie of the season for the Scots, the third for Salve.
Beyond the Box Score
- Ryan Modzeleski scored his first career goal in this afternoon's matchup.
- Salve's Michael Payan (Sr./Fort Lee, N.J.) recorded a season-high 10 saves on the day.
- Said Head Coach Matt Horth, "We always knew this game was going to be hard-fought and our guys rose to the occasion today. It's frustrating having had the chances to get the winner and we are coming away with a tie, but credit to Salve for battling hard."
