BANGOR, Maine – The Husson University men's soccer team battled Thomas College to a 2-2 draw in a non-conference contest at Boucher Field on Tuesday evening.
Husson (1-1-3) was able to find the scoring column first as junior Florian Gasser found the back of the net for a second time on the young season as he took advantage of a Thomas (1-2-2) turnover in the Eagle's attacking third and blasted the ball past the Terrier's keeper to give Husson the 1-0 lead.
The Eagles would carry that lead into the halftime break and maintain it early in the second half until Husson junior goalie Alex Rechsteiner was issued a red card in the 50th minute. The Terriers were quick to pounce on the opportunity as Micky Woodrow would tally two goals in an eight-minute span to give Thomas a 2-1 edge.
Husson was still able to press effectively against the Terriers, even while playing down a man and that perseverance would pay off in the 76th minute as sophomore Miguel Morales knotted the game back up at two after following up his penalty kick attempt that was saved by the Thomas goalie.
Freshman goalie Samuel Bermudez would help keep the game tied as he made two diving saves in the 84th minute against two quality Terrier chances. The Eagles would have a corner kick in the 89th minute but could not find the winning goal and the game would end in a 2-2 draw.
Husson nearly doubled-up Thomas in shots attempted as the Eagles held a 27-14 advantage, including a 9-7 edge in shots on goal.
Rechsteiner made two saves in his nearly 50 minutes of action in goal, while sophomore keeper Carlos Galloni made one save during his time between the posts, in addition to Bermudez making two saves in net for Husson.
"Another rough day for us unfortunately," said head men's soccer coach Gavin Penny. "Our group is dealing with a lot of adversity and are responding well to the challenges. It's tough to play one man down for 40 minutes. Thomas did well to get us backpedaling, especially since we didn't need to be. We were in control, but we lost control for a 15-minute spell. I was pleased to see that we got ourselves out of the hole and in the end we came very close to winning. The lads have worked their socks off, I couldn't have asked for more. That being said, we should have put the game to bed in the first half. We had more than enough chances. We need to improve in that area so when things happen, we can limit the impact. We'll try again on Saturday."
The Eagles will now begin a five-game road trip that starts on Saturday as they will travel to Salve Regina University. Kick-off for this non-conference contest is set for 4:30 p.m.
