BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian College men's soccer team battled in a Landmark Conference match with the United States Merchant Marine Academy for 110 minutes of play to take home one point in the 1-1 tie Wednesday afternoon on the HUB Quad.
In the first 45 minutes of play the Hounds were able to strike first and take a 1-0 lead just three minutes into the game. The team rushed down the field and was able to find an open senior midfielder Brett Harder, who launched a shot off of the left hand post. Harder's shot fell into the feet of freshman forward Koshane Marshall who buried it in the back of the net from about five yards out. The rest of the half went back-and-forth with both teams having good chances to score; however, the Hounds' one goal was the only score.
In the second 45 minutes of play, Moravian worked hard to keep the Mariners off of the scoresheet. The Greyhounds almost found a second goal of the day when freshman forward Connor Wagner beat the defenders to the ball and raced down field to just miss his shot off to the left of the goalie. The game was scoreless until the 90th minute of play when Merchant Marine was able to bend a shot past senior goalkeeper Brian Boland.
Both teams fought hard in the first overtime period, the Hounds would find two good shots from senior forward Shane Harder and senior defender Matthew Gandy, but neither of their shots would find the back of the net. The game was still tied after the first period and stayed that way in the second overtime period. The Greyhounds had chances to put the game away with shots from junior midfielder David Tate and freshman defender Rocky Fatuova late in the second overtime but both shots failed to hit the target.
Boland made seven saves in the net for Moravian bringing his season total to 39 saves.
"I thought we battled, and fought out there," commented Head Coach Todd Ervin. "I thought we put together a very complete match, if not the most complete match we've played all year. It is tough to get scored on so late in the game but the guys came back out and worked hard in both overtime periods."
The Hounds will face off against Landmark Conference opponent Juniata College on Saturday, October 10 at 1:00 p.m. on the HUB Quad.