HOUGHTON, NY -- The Alfred University men's soccer team took home a 2-2 draw at Houghton on Wednesday night to open Empire 8 play.
"The guys showed a ton of fight," Head Coach
Garret Eldridge said. "We didn't have our best soccer and got a point on the road. We will look to play better and show more of who we are on Saturday."
Alfred's first shot came just before the 11 minute mark from
Lawrence John Taylor (Bong County, Liberia/Westminster College) which forced a save from Houghton early on. But the Saxons would fall behind just eight minutes later.
AU would only record two more shots in the first half, and it took until the 62nd minute for the visitors to respond. A quickly-taken free kick by John Taylor created some chaos, drawing a penalty kick when the Highlanders' netminder fouled
Jesus De La Torre (Malaga, Spain/The Woodstock Academy).
It would be
Derek Alexei Rodriguez (Panama Oeste, Panama/Colegio San Gabriel de la Dolorosa) who would slot it home into the bottom left corner from 12 yards out. The job would not be done, however, as the Saxons fell behind just four minutes later.
But once again, Alexei Rodriguez delivered for Alfred University. He pressured a Houghton defender to give up the ball at midfield, and Rodriguez took it himself to the back of the net with just over seven minutes to play.
Both teams continued to fight as they looked for a winner. The Saxons goalkeeper
Tyler Mulholland (Lancaster, PA/Manheim Township) would make a key save with just over a minute to play to keep the score even. It was his seventh and final save of the evening to get his team a point.
The Saxons will play its first home conference game of the season, playing against St. John Fisher on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.
-- Swords Forward Saxons --
