FRAMINGHAM, Mass. -- Bridgewater State College and Framingham State College battled to a 2-2 double overtime draw today in Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) men's soccer action at Maple Street Field.
With the draw, the Rams move to 6-8-2 on the season and 4-1-1 in conference play, while the Bears remain unbeaten in the MASCAC at 5-0-1 and improve to 8-4-2 overall. A win next Saturday in the season finale against Mass. Maritime Academy would give the Bears the conference regular season title and the top seed for the MASCAC Tournament.
Bridgewater State opened the game on an offensive flurry and just over a minute into the game senior forward Luke Brewer (Edgartown, Mass.) scored what appeared to be a goal but the play was waved off on an offsides call. The Bears maintained their offensive pressure and in the 16th minute once again had a chance to take the lead but Brewer's shot off of a direct kick sailed just wide.
The game would go back and forth with the Bears outshooting the Rams 9-6 in the first half as neither team was able to capitalize on their scoring chances until just before the half. Bridgewater State took a 1-0 lead with 1:15 remaining in the first half as sophomore Dan Roberts (Braintree, Mass.) and Brewer broke through the Rams defense on a two on one. Roberts hit Brewer with a pass as he streaked down the left side and Brewer was able to beat the Rams keeper with a well placed shot for his ninth goal of the season.
The Rams offense came alive in the second half and they had several chances to score in the opening minutes of the frame. Junior Scott Faria (Fall River, Mass.) fired a shot from the top of the box in the 47th minute that BSC goalkeeper Ryan Seifert (Ludlow, Mass.) was able to deflect out of bounds. On the ensuing corner kick freshman Will Menter's (Haverhill, Mass.) bid sailed just over the cross bar.
Framingham State finally knotted the game at 1-1 in the 57th minute as Jared Curry (Westboro, Mass.) launched a direct kick in the box that Peter Maranto (Haverhill, Mass.) knocked home for his second marker of the season.
The Rams took the lead 2-1 in the 64th minute as Faria took a long pass up the middle from Brunno Goncalves (Framingham, Mass.) and placed a shot into the back of the net for his sixth of the season.
The Rams maintained the one goal lead till late in the half as Roberts scored an unassisted goal at 85:26 to tie the game and force overtime.
Neither team was able to generate a quality scoring opportunity in the first overtime, but the Bears had two chances to win the game in the second extra session. With eight minutes remaining in the second overtime, Brewer had a breakaway and maneuvered around Framingham State goalkeeper Greg Halle (Beverly, Mass.), who had come off his line, but Brewer's shot hit the side of the next.
With 2:30 remaining in the game, the Bears once again had a chance to score the go ahead goal as Halle came way off his line leaving the net wide open. Halle was able to scramble back into the play and make a diving save on Brewer's shot to preserve the 2-2 draw.
The Bears outshot the Rams 15-14 on the day and Halle finished with six stops for the Rams while Seifert also made six stops for the Bears. A total of nine cards were handed out during the game, including a pair of red cards for Framingham State.
The Rams return to action on Wednesday as they host Clark University at 3:30 p.m., while the Bears host UMass Dartmouth on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.