Box Score SCRANTON, Pa. – In a thrilling back and forth match that featured quality chances on both sides, The University of Scranton men's soccer team (4-3-5, 1-0-3 Landmark) battled the Catholic University Cardinals (6-5-2, 2-1-1 Landmark) to a 1-1 draw on a rainy Saturday evening at Weiss Field in Scranton.
The top five teams in the Landmark Conference standings are currently separated by just three points with three regular season matches remaining.
Catholic opened the scoring in just the fourth minute as Gordie Bernlohr found the back of the net to give the visitors a 1-0 lead for the time being. Both teams would threaten in the later stages of the first half as sophomore Anthony Rizzi (Bloomfield, N.J./Bloomfield) had a shot turned away by Catholic keeper Austin Coron in the 28th minute and senior Jake Hodlofski (West Chester, Pa./Malvern Prep) made consecutive saves for the Royals on attempts from Bernlohr and Paul Egan. The Cardinals held a 9-3 shot advantage in the opening half and took a 1-0 lead into the break.
In the second half, the Royals nearly evened things at one in the 53rd minute when a blast from freshman Adam Havens (Freehold, N.J./Freehold Township) went just wide of the net. Scranton broke through just a few minutes later as senior Jake Nubbemeyer (Warminster, Pa./Archbishop Wood) took a pass from classmate Andrew Luchansky (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) in the box and beat Coron with his team-high third goal of the season to even things at one apiece. Coron made saves on attempts from Luchansky and junior Brendan King (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) in the ensuing minutes to keep things deadlocked at one, while Hodlofski denied Darius Siahpoosh in the 67th minute. Hodlofski once again stood tall in the final 10 minutes of regulation with a pair of saves that helped send the game to overtime.
Siahpoosh was once again denied by Hodlofski in the 95th minute during the first overtime period and the Royals keeper made his final save of the evening on Bernlohr in the 104th minute to preserve the draw.
Catholic held a 21-12 shot advantage in the match as the Royals were led by three shots from Rizzi.
Hodlofski's nine saves on the afternoon were the second most of his career following a 10-save effort in a 1-1 draw at Neumann on Sept. 7, 2019. The West Chester, Pa., native currently leads the Landmark Conference in both goals against average (0.54) and save percentage (.860).
Coron tallied four saves in 110 minutes of action for the Cardinals.
The game was an extremely physical affair that included 19 fouls, six yellow cards and a red card.
Scranton returns to action on Wednesday night at Drew for a crucial Landmark Conference matchup with action slated to get underway at 7 p.m.
--ROYALS--
