BELMONT, N.C. –
Ryan Aliam tallied two goals in the second half as Lees-McRae men's soccer collected a 3-3 draw against Belmont Abbey in the Conference Carolinas mutual opener.
Fletcher Dyson registered his fifth goal on the season for the Bobcats in the match.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Belmont Abbey – 3; Lees-McRae – 3
LOCATION: Alumni Field – Belmont, North Carolina
RECORDS: Lees-McRae (2-1-2/0-0-1), Belmont Abbey (1-1-1/0-0-1)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Dyson buried his fifth goal of the season and fourth from the penalty spot as Lees-McRae took the early 1-0 lead in the 10th minute of play.
- The Crusaders answered with two goals in the middle stages of the first half as Belmont Abbey grabbed the 2-1 advantage heading into the halftime break.
- Aliam earned his first goal of the evening with a nice touch in the box and finished the ball past the goalkeeper to pull the Bobcats even in the contest.
- Belmont Abbey's Davis McBee regained the one-goal advantage for the Crusaders in the 57th minute, but Aliam evened the affair at three goals with a superb goal from outside the box in the 80th minute of action.
- Dyson finished the Conference Carolinas opener with two shots on goal and one goal on the night.
- Joshua Garvilla hauled in two saves for the Bobcats while allowing three goals on the evening.
- The Bobcats outshot the Crusaders 13-9 with Lees-McRae notching seven shots on target Belmont Abbey's five.
FOR THE CRUSADERS:
- Nikolaus Opal matched Garvilla in net with two saves and kept the match even at three goals with a clutch save with seconds left in the match.Will Whitman got the start in net for the Crusaders and gathered two saves.
- Zion Duncan and Pa Njie joined McBee in the scoring column for Belmont Abbey.
UP NEXT:
Lees-McRae returns to Tate Field next Wednesday for a Conference Carolinas match with Emmanuel (Ga.) at 7 p.m.
For more information on Lees-McRae Athletics, follow the Bobcats on Twitter (@LMCBobcats), on Facebook (Lees-McRae Athletics), and on Instagram (leesmcraeathletics).
