Two forty-five minute halves weren’t enough to decide the victor. Neither was the first ten minutes of overtime. After the second ten minutes had elapsed, the exciting, edge-of-your–seat slugfest at Rudd Field ended in a draw. Those who braved the cold were treated to an unbelievably competitive game between two teams who refused to concede an inch.
The Elon University men's soccer team tied Radford University 1-1 Monday night in Elon.
Elon head coach Darren Powell admitted his team’s inability to finish any of its high volume of quality scoring chances was frustrating, but is staying positive nonetheless.
“It’s always a good sign when you’re creating chances at goal,” Powell said. “We obviously would’ve liked to put one of those away, but obviously as a coaching staff we’d be more concerned if we weren’t creating chances.”
After a half of intense frustration and empty chances, Thomas was able to find the back of the net on a penalty kick in the 49th minute.
According to Powell, Thomas’s goal was an important shift in momentum that appeared to give the Phoenix the upper hand. That is, until they conceded a goal in the waning minutes of the game.
“It was good to get the first goal in the game,” Powell said. “To get that first goal is very important as we know as a team. We just need to make sure we hold on to it for the final whistle. We didn’t necessarily do that tonight.”
Radford midfielder Bernardo Ulmo slipped a penalty kick past Phoenix sophomore goalkeeper Nathan Dean in the 87th minute after a questionable penalty call.
Dean said the penalty kick was a tough break, but insisted it was perfectly fair for the referees to reward the penalty, regardless of the time in which it had been given.
“I don’t think it depends too much on the time of the game,” Dean said. “Those kinds of calls can go for you or against you. In the speed of the play, at the moment, it’s very difficult to make calls like that for referees. Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don’t. It’s just whether the luck is for you or against you and unfortunately tonight it was against us.
After keeping a clean sheet against nationally-ranked University of North Carolina Charlotte, the Phoenix were caught playing spotty defense against the Highlanders, which eventually cost them the win.
Coach Powell was frustrated by his team’s inconsistent performance.
“I thought we defended quite well at times as a back four,” Powell said. “I just think collectively we didn’t defend as tight as we should. There were a few gaps here and there but overall they didn’t have any clear-cut chances. Overall, defensively, it wasn’t the best performance but it was still a very solid performance.”
The Phoenix now enters the gauntlet of league play, beginning its Southern Conference schedule this Friday night at Davidson College, a team Dean refuses to write off.
“We struggled a little bit against Davidson last year,” Dean said. “So we know how tough a fixture they can be, but we’ve shown the last couple of games how tough a fixture we can be. So if we play to our potential, like we did against Charlotte, then we’ll give Davidson a good game.”
According to Powell, the Southern Conference will once again prove to be one of the nation’s elite conferences.
“The SoCon is always very competitive,” Powell said. “Those games have an extra edge. I think top to bottom its very, very good. It’s one of the best leagues in the country. So it’s going to be competitive all around and we just need to make sure we collect the three points [for a win] when we can.”