With less than two minutes remaining (88:12) it appeared the Lee University men’s soccer team was posed to score its first victory of the season. An own goal scored by 20th-ranked Lincoln Memorial University gave the Railsplitters a 1-1 draw with the stunned and disappointed Flames.
The tie leaves Lee with a 0-2-1 record as they return to Cleveland and get ready to host Cedarville University at the Ray Conn Sports Complex on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. LMU remained unbeaten with a 2-0-1 record.
After a scoreless first half, the Flames scored their first goal of the season in the 60th minute when Daniel Garvilla got an assist from Marcus Garcia and put what appeared to be sending Lee on its way to victory.
The Flames had a golden opportunity to move on top in the first half but Farid Chouyouti’s shot to the bottom left of the net was saved by the LMU keeper.
Lee came right back in the second period and in the 55th minute Garcia’s shot was saved again by the Railsplitter keeper.
After the Flames went on top in the 60th minute, they continued to fire away and Jesse Thompson and Garcia had shots picked off by the always present LMU keeper. The biggest opportunities came in the 72nd and 83rd minutes. Thompson had his shot deflected away and Shay Gillen came within inches of putting the Flames on top 2-0 with a shot at the bottom of the net that was saved.
Both teams fired a combination of 31 shots but only 11 were on goal, seven by Lee and four by LMU. Jakob Buhrkuhl had four saves for the Flames and Daniel Benedek Miklosi worked hard for six saves for the host team.
Lee had three corner kicks and LMU was awarded five opportunities. The Flames and LMU were whistled for 10 fouls apiece in the rugged battle.
Coach Derek Potteiger’s thoughts:
“I told the guys at the end of the game we have to be honest and admit we made a big mistake to let a win slip through our fingers and that hurts. However, in the bigger picture, I was so proud of our performance today. It has been a brutal start to the season, losing both opening games and making that long trip to Missouri."
"The guys responded in a valiant way and though they were disappointed to not win, we are holding our heads high because everything coming into this game pointed to Lincoln Memorial having the advantage. We have a few guys playing through some serious bumps and bruises, so as a coach you can’t help but be proud of their efforts. The season is early but that gives us a boost on multiple levels ahead of this last game on Saturday before GSC play starts the next weekend.”