Men's Soccer Earns 2-2 Tie against No. 17 Ranked Bridgeport
Springfield, Mass. - The American
International College men's soccer team fell behind 2-0 early in
the first-half but battled back to earn a 2-2 OT tie against No. 17
Bridgeport College Thursday afternoon in a non-conference match-up
at AIC Park.
The games first goal was scored by Purple Knight forward Gilbert Bayonne at the 10:47 mark in the first-half, when he took a pass from teammate Blaise Njie from the right-corner of the field and booted it pasted AIC goaltender Mathew Marcoux (Blackstone, Mass.). Njie grabbed assists on both Bridgeport goals.
The Purple Knights would strike again just over five minutes later when Paulo Goncalves took a pass off of a quickly played free-kick from Njie and snuck the teams second goal by Marcoux.
Trailing 2-0, the Yellow Jackets didn't give in to the talented Purple Knights. At the 28:50 mark, Chris Charles (Brooklyn, NY) scored his first goal of the season. The score was tallied after Charles received a beautiful corner-kick offering in front of the net from Leonardo Santos (Belo Horizonte, Brazil.).
After going almost the entire second-half without a goal from either team, Derick Ofori (Pawtucker, RI) snuck into the box with three minutes to play and pushed a loose ball past the goalie for the score. Charles and Santos were credited with assists on the equalizer.
Marcoux stopped three shots-on-goal for the Yellow Jackets while Bridgeport goalie Ryan Brooks-Newton turned away six shots.
The two teams battled through two 10 minute overtimes, but neither were able to capitalize on scoring chances and grab the win.
AIC is scheduled to travel to St. Rose Saturday, September
8th for a 1:00 pm contest.