Box Score YORK, Pa. – The York College men's soccer team hosted nationally ranked Christopher Newport University on Saturday afternoon and played to a 1-1, double-overtime draw.
The draw puts the Spartans' overall record at 3-6-2 and 0-1-1 in the Capital Athletic Conference, while the Captains' overall record is now 8-0-3 with a CAC record of 1-0-1.
The Spartans did not seem intimidated by the Captains' No. 3 national ranking as they came out pressuring the ball on offense and defense just as well as the Captains did. York's first chance of the half came in the 6th minute when Nigel Robinson (Woodbridge, Va. / Forest Park) sent a long through ball up field to Greg Bechard (Newark, Del. / St. Mark's). Bechard gained control of the ball, but was chased down from behind by Captain defender Bobby Seifert, who kicked the ball away. Joel Teston (Manassas, Va. / Forest Park) picked up the loose ball and got off a cross to Chris Saberton (Wilmington, Del. / Salesianum) who fired just high.
In the 14th minute, Christopher Newport got their own good first chance of the game. The Captains were able to make a few solid passes to get through the Spartan defense and the ball finally ended up at the foot of senior Ryan Balfour. Balfour made a move to find some space and fired a shot from about 25 yards out, but the ball went wide to the right.
In the 26th minute, Saberton brought the ball up the right side of the field and tried to get a cross off to Teston, but was deflected out of bounds for a corner kick. Freshman Tony Mosqueira (Woodbridge, Va. / Forest Park) took the corner and sent a nice cross into the box. After deflecting off a CNU defender, Robinson was able to finish the opportunity for his fourth goal of the season to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
The Captains quickly responded in the second half. In the 46th minute, Preston Key dribbled into the box, stopped, and made a short crossing pass to teammate Andrew Gogolin who finished the chance for his second goal of the season, tying the game 1-1.
The Spartans generated most of the scoring chances after that. Robinson fired a shot just wide in the 53rd minute and then a minute later, Saberton headed the ball into the net after receiving a header from Teston, but was called for offside.
Spartan goalkeeper Charlie Johnson (Harrisburg, Pa. / Central Dauphin) played well all game, especially down the stretch of the second half as he stopped two potential goal-scoring opportunities by catching crosses in the 87th minute and again in the 90th minute.
The Captains came out in the first overtime applying heavy pressure on the Spartan defense, but were never able to get a good scoring chance. Both teams continued their hard and physical play throughout the first overtime and into the second overtime period.
Two minutes into the second overtime, Bechard received his second yellow card of the game resulting in a red card. Even though they were down a man for the rest of the game, York was up to the task. With three minutes remaining, Seifert came flying in on the left side and dove to head the ball but it went off the left post and out of bounds. With just 40 seconds left, Johnson made another spectacular jumping save to keep the game tied 1-1.
Captain goalkeeper, Nolan Mann, finished the game with four saves on five attempts and now holds a record of 8-0-3 on the season. Johnson also finished with four saves on five attempts for the Spartans and now holds a record of 3-6-2.
Both teams were firing away at the net all afternoon as the Captains held a 15-12 advantage in total shots, but both teams tied in attempts on goal with five. It was a very physical battle, as well, as the Captains committed 20 fouls to the Spartans' 18.
The Spartans return to action on Wednesday when they will travel to PSU-Harrisburg. The game is slated for a 4:00 pm kick-off.
Story written by Will Wallace – Athletic Communications Student Assistant
Photo courtesy of Joe Rodgers
