ALFRED, NY -- A second-half scoring bananza fueled an intense 2-2 draw between Alfred University and Utica University. 

Alfred (4-6-2, 2-3-2 Empire 8) snapped a three-game losing streak at home while celebrating six seniors on Senior Day. Those six seniors included Ian Ashworth (Hornell, NY/Hornell), AJ Giaquinto (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake), Rodrigo Perez (Pelencia, Spain/IES Victorio Macho), Jaime Mendo Robles (Zaragoza, Spain/Hoosac), Dray Grayson (Le Roy, NY/Le Roy), and Ian Landsittel (New Providence, NJ/New Providence).

"I thought the guys fought insanely hard and deserved more from that game," Head Coach Garret Eldridge said. "We move onto the next game."

AU was kept busy, mostly in their own defensive half. Tyler Mulholland (Lancaster, PA/Manheim Township) made four first-half saves to keep his team in it. He was also very close to keeping out Utica's penalty kick in the dying seconds of the half.

While the Saxons were behind, they were far from out of it. They roared back in the second half, first off with Hamza Kromah (Margibi, Liberia/Western Reserve Academy) drawing a penalty kick of their own. Xavier Bowman (Hampstead, MD/Manchester Valley) sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to even things back up.

As push came to shove, Alfred University pushed through with a late go-ahead goal in the final 15 minutes. Just seconds after being subbed on, Christian Martinez (Grand Prairie, TX/South Grand Prairie) got himself on the end of a corner kick put in by Perez, and back across the six-yard box from Giaquinto. His header marked the first collegiate goal of his career and a huge 2-1 lead late.

It was just one of five corners by the Saxons, four of the five coming in the final 45 minutes. In total, AU peppered 19 shots with every field player registering at least one shot in the match. Unfortunately for the Saxons, a perfect 85th minute curler by the Pioneers forced the two teams to settle for a draw.

Alfred University will look to continue their push for the postseason on the road at SUNY Brockport on Wednesday, October 15 at 6:00 p.m.