Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University men's soccer team earned its first point in Northeast Conference play by battling the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers to a 1-1 draw in a Sunday afternoon match at sun-soaked North Athletic Complex. Robert Morris is now 5-8-2 overall and 0-3-1 in the NEC.
Bruce Cullen was responsible for the tying goal, his second marker of the season. At the other end of the field, RMU keeper
Brenden Alfery had his busiest afternoon as a Colonial making 10 stops.
Both teams had opportunities to take early leads. A cross by Cullen from the left wing found
Jared Latchford at the far post, but his volley attempt sailed wide in the seventh minute. The Terriers (6-5-3, 1-1-1 NEC) came back one minute later with a corner kick that ended with Fabian Suele getting stoned by Alfery from close range before Paul Galimi send the rebound over the top.
The Terriers were able to convert in the 12th minute of play. A free kick from midfield was sent to the center of the RMU box where Cyril Coisne sent a header toward the right post. Riccardo Milano chested the ball to himself before unleashing a phenomenal bicycle kick inside the right post.
A foul on the Terriers in the 58th minute set up the game-tying score. With an indirect kick from 20 yards near the top right of the St. Francis penalty area, Cullen played a short ball to
Speedy Williams who teed the ball up for Cullen. The junior ripped a left-footed blast that buried itself into the upper left corner of the goal
The Terriers nearly found the winner in the 78th minute, but Alfery turned aside Vincent Bezecourt's low shot from the top of the box and then wiped out the rebound attempt by Shafer.
The game remained tied into overtime with both team's garnering chances to pick up the three points. Bezecourt fired a shot high from the center of the box just after the start of the extra session. In the 95th minute, an
Andrew Scheidemantel service from midfield found
Neco Brett who had his blast blocked, then a rebound attempt by
Tyler Graziani skipped just outside the left post. A last gasp effort from Latchford with just 52 seconds left went past the left post as well.
Robert Morris plays its final road game of the regular season next Sunday, Oct. 26, traveling to Sacred Heart for a Noon match.
