Bangor, ME -  The Husson University Men's Soccer team came into Saturday night's match with the University of Southern Maine Huskies still looking for their first win of the 2013 campaign.  

They'll have to keep searching for that elusive first victory, as the two teams played to a 2-2 draw after 110 minutes of play.  

Husson played the final 47 minutes of the contest with just 10 players after a red card was assessed to goalkeeper Brian Potter (Waterville, ME) for a dangerous play.  Potter came out of the box to try and field a ball that was bounding towards Husson's goal, and was deemed to have thrown an elbow to the neck of Southern Maine's Jonathan Varney.  

Eagles' head coach Jeff Gettler was impressed with his team's performance playing at a disadvantage, saying, "I'm proud of the guys and happy that we ended 2-2 because of playing so long a man down, but overall I thought we could have done better prior to that happening."

The Huskies opened the scoring in the 17th minute with a great individual effort by Tyler Rand.  Rand took a loose ball up the right side and was able to dribble around two Husson defenders and blast a shot past Potter to take a 1-0 lead.  

The Eagles countered right back just a minute and 22 seconds later off a beautiful combination from Joshua Bean (Ellsworth, ME) to Jimmy Fitzpatrick (Houlton, ME).  Bean had possession in the middle of the field, and was able to flick the ball over the USM defense where only Fitzpatrick could get it.  Fitzpatrick made a dandy of a move to maneuver around Husky goalkeeper Adam Verrault, and banged it home to tie the match at 1-1.  

There would be no more scoring until the 55th minute, when the Eagles set up for a throw-in.  Andrew Austin (Ellsworth, ME) made a flip-throw towards the box, and the ball took a big hop off the Boucher Field turf.  It bounced over two USM defenders, and found the head of Cooper Antone (Hampden, ME) who was able to put it in the back of the net to give Husson a 2-1 lead.  

It would be the Huskies that would answer back almost immediately this time, as it took them just a minute and 50 seconds to get the equalizer.  Rand controlled the ball just outside the 18-yard box, and barely touched it off to Michael Daniel who was streaking down the middle of the field.  Daniel let off a cannon of a shot with his right foot from 25 yards out, and buried it in the back of the net to even it up at 2-2.  

Both teams would have good scoring opportunities throughout the rest of regulation, but neither was able to capitalize.  

In the first overtime, Husson had numerous good scoring chances but weren't able to put any away.  The put a flurry of shots on goal in the last few moments, but the Huskies defense and goalkeeper Verrault were able to hold them at bay.

The second overtime saw USM have a handful of good runs with Rand and Daniel, but the Eagles' defense stood tall when it mattered most and solidified the tie.  

Gettler was satisfied with his team's play over the two games this weekend, but acknowledged that they have some work to do, saying, "We found out a lot about ourselves, what we can and can't do.  We found our strengths and weaknesses to a good extent, but we have to get things right before conference play happens."

Both teams moved to 0-3-1 with the draw.

Husson's next match will be Tuesday, September 10, at Colby College in Waterville at 4:30 p.m.  The Eagle's next home tilt will be two weeks from now, on 9/21 against U-Maine Farmington.  

The following players were named to the 2013 New Balance Challenge Cup All-Tournament Team:

Evan Crocker (MVP) Gordon Mid. Jr. 

Kellen Kasiguran Gordon Mid. Sr.

Kevin Payne Gordon Mid. Jr.

Tim Hardy Gordon GK Sr.

Jonathan Reeks MMA Mid. So.

Nicholas George MMA F Sr.

Matt LeBlanc MMA Mid. So.

Jimmy Fitzpatrick Husson F Fr.

Chris DelGiudice Husson D Sr.

Michael Daniel USM M So.

Nat LeBlanc USM D Jr.