LATROBE, Pa. (Oct. 10) – The Saint Vincent College men's soccer team battled visiting Thiel College to a 0-0 tie in a Presidents' Athletic Conference matchup under the brand-new lights at UPMC Field.
The Bearcats (6-6-2, 2-2-2 PAC) outshot the visiting Tomcats (1-10-3, 0-5-2) 19-10 for the game, including a 12-5 margin over the game's second half and a 7-4 edge in shots on goal, but were unable to find the net and were forced to settle for the draw.
Saint Vincent goalkeeper
Kameron Rock tallied four saves to record his second consecutive shutout, and fourth clean sheet of the season.
The opening half was an evenly played, defensive battle, as each team took just one corner kicks and the Bearcats held a slight, 7-5 advantage in shots.
Momentum seemed to gradually swing toward the Bearcats as the second half wound on, as the SVC offense saw a number of spurts produce scoring chances. Following a free kick in the 56th minute, the Bearcats racked three shots in an 80-second span, two from
Kelvin Aguilar-Contreras up close and one from
Ethan Bridges from 25 yards out that sailed just wide.
Saint Vincent continued to hold the advantage in possession through the middle stages of the half, permitting just three Thiel shots over the first 24 minutes, with Rock turning aside the only shot on goal.
As the match entered the final 10 minutes, the Bearcats would go on the attack. With 8:01 left, a shot from
Mattia Speretta was turned aside by Thiel keeper Bryce Stefanowicz, before a pair of
Jose Hurtado blasts from just inside the box were blocked with 6:30 left to play. Following SVC's fourth corner kick of the half, Aguilar-Contreras found a hole in the defense and sent a blast in from 10 yards out, but it was gobbled up by Stefanowicz to keep the game scoreless.
Thiel then looked to counter late, with Rock producing a pair of saves in a 70-second span, the last of which a leaping grab of a header from the doorstep off of a free kick with 1:02 left in regulation, which would prove to be the last scoring chance of the night for either squad.
Aguilar-Contreras and Hurtado shared the SVC team lead with four shots apiece, while
Antonio Mendes took three attempts.
Stefanowicz finished with seven saves for the Tomcats.
The Bearcats will be back in action on Saturday, Oct. 14, hosting PAC foe Franciscan University on the UPMC Field Turf at 3 p.m.
