Men's soccer finishes in a draw with Thiel, 1-1

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

BETHANY, W.Va. (Oct. 4) - The Bethany College men's soccer team played to a 1-1 draw with Thiel College at Hoag Field in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) match.

THE MATCHUP

• Final: Bethany 1, Thiel 1 (Box Score)
• Records: Bethany 6-6-1, 0-1-1 PAC | Thiel 3-5-1, 0-0-1 PAC
• Location: Hoag Field | Bethany, West Virginia

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first half of the match was played on the Thiel side of the field for the most part, as the Bison controlled play. Bethany out-shot the Tomcats 14-to-2 in the opening period.
• The Bison finally broke through in the 63rd-minute when freshman Bernardo Vilchis (Mexico City, Mexico/Universidad del Valle) got behind the defense on a ricocheted ball that was initially ruled an "offside" play. Fellow countryman Luis Arteaga (Pachuca, Mexico/Leonardo Bravo) fed Vilchis the ball from the left side, where Vilchis sent the ball into the back of the net.
• After a discussion between the lineman and the referee, the offside was called off and the goal stood to put Bethany ahead 1-0 with just under 28 minutes remaining in the contest.
• The Bison had an opportunity to put away the Tomcats in the 69th-minute when a foul in the box allowed senior Adam Franco (Inglewood, Calif./Carter) a penalty-kick opportunity.
• Franco kept the ball low and shot towards the left post, but the Thiel goalkeeper made the diving stop to keep the score a 1-0.
• Thiel scored less than three minutes later on a laser shot from the far left side outside of the box. The shot by Thiel's Frank Jackson bent right towards the top right corner and past the reach of freshman goalkeeper Torben Greather (Rheinfelden, Germany/Georg-Buchner) to tie the match.
• Bethany nearly notched the game-winning goal in the final minute of the match. Senior Ian Hayhurst (Fairmont, W.Va./East Fairmont) headed a ball on net that required a leaping punch-out save by the Tomcat goalkeeper to keep the match tied and send it into overtime.
• Both teams had chances in both overtime periods, but neither squad could bury the "golden goal", sending the match to a draw.

MATCH NOTES

• Greather made five saves to earn the draw in net for Bethany.
• Junior Kai Whitney (Melbourne Beach, Fla./Eau Gallie) headed away a potential game-tying goal moments before Thiel notched the equalizer in the 72nd-minute.
• Bethany held a 32-to-14 advantage in shots for the match and attempted 10 corner kicks. The Bison put 15 of their shots on net.

UP NEXT

• The Bison will continue PAC play on Wednesday, October 11 when they host Waynesburg under the lights at Bison Stadium at 7:30 p.m.
• A live stream of the match will be available here.