SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio — Down 2-0 late in the second half, the West Virginia Wesleyan (6-3-1, 4-3-1) men’s soccer team fought back to earn a hard-fought draw against Notre Dame College (5-2-1, 5-2-1) at Mueller Field on Sunday.
In the first half, NDC came out firing and controlled the half in its entirety.
The Falcons outshot the Orange & Black 7-3 in the half and managed seven corners to Wesleyan’s one.
Falcon phenom Ned Dry gave NDC the first half advantage when he placed one past Logan Nelson in the 29th minute. Dry beat the keeper to the left side for his conference-leading ninth goal of the season.
The second half saw NDC increase its lead when Carlos Almeida took down the Ailton Fagner Silva pass in the 64th minute and slotted it into the back of the net.
Trailing 2-0, Nika Monaselidze kept his run of great form.
Monaselidze brought the ‘Cats within one just two minutes later when he beat the Falcon keeper to his right and into the back of the net.
Wesleyan found the equalizer in the 79th minute.
After being awarded a free kick, Connor Hartwell sent a long cross into the NDC penalty area.
The cross found the head of Charlie Naylor and was deposited into the back of the net. The assist was Hartwell’s second in as many games and third of the season.
The game was sent into Golden Goal overtime, but after neither team could manage a goal in the two 10 minute halves of OT, the game finished as a draw. A singular point was awarded to each team in the standings.
“This group of players doesn’t know when they are beaten,” coach Josh Spencer said. “Coming back from 2-0 down and getting something from one of the best teams in this conference shows brilliant resilience and I couldn’t be any prouder.”
Next up for the Bobcats is a home contest against Alderson Broaddus on Wednesday (Oct. 13) scheduled for 7 p.m. at Culpepper Stadium
