The Ithaca College men’s soccer team drew 1–1 on senior day against the Houghton College Highlanders in a battle of the top two teams in the Empire 8 Conference. The Bombers are now 6–7–1 and the Highlanders fall to 9–2–4.
Bomber seniors Zach Jacobsen, Andrew Coburn, Cody Kiss, Scott Halpern, Ellis Masterman and Sam Boylan were honored in a pregame ceremony commemorating their careers at the college.
Sophomore midfielder Zach Lichtman said the seniors have been great leaders this season.
“They’ve really shown us how to put in a full 90 minutes and just really lead us through each and every game,” Lichtman said.
Neither team were able to maintain possession for long, as the weather conditions at the start of the game were not ideal with persistent rain and high winds.
The Blue and Gold struggled early on with staying onside and were flagged on multiple occasions for offside calls.
Boylan made the first shot of the game, when he unleashed a free kick from about 25 yards out that was just tipped over the bar by Houghton’s senior goalkeeper Jacob Dunnett.
A few minutes later, the Bombers struck on goal again. This time, sophomore forward Alexander Brosnihan collected the ball on a defensive error and blasted a shot towards goal, however it was deflected by the Highlanders defense.
Houghton, who was quiet on offense in the beginning of the game, opened the game’s scoring 24 minutes into the contest when Houghton junior defender Nic Loew dribbled into the box and found fifth year senior Tyler Ashley, whose strike took a slight deflection and snuck past Jacobsen to give the Highlanders a 1–0 lead.
With four minutes remaining in the first half, Brosnihan was handed a yellow card after a foul in the attacking box while he was hustling after a defender with the ball.
The South Hill squad equalized the game with 23 minutes left in regulation, when freshman midfielder Kevin Turi stole the ball on the left side of the field in the offensive half and moved the ball up to Brosnihan, who took three dribbles and the hit home to level the score at 1–1.
With no team able to take the lead, the game moved to overtime, however neither team were able to capitalize on opportunities and the game went into double overtime.
The Highlanders had four shots on goal in double overtime and the Bombers had one, but no goals were scored. The game ended in a 1–1 draw.
Lichtman said despite the tie,the team showed guts and grit.
“We really put in a grind,” Lichtman said. “It was just a really good tough performance.”
The Bombers, who already clinched a spot in the Empire 8 Championship, have two games left in the regular season. Boylan said the team wants to finish out the season strong.
“We just got to finish strong, win out, and then wherever we end up going for playoffs we’ll be ready,” Boylan said.
The Bombers will return to action at 3 p.m. Oct. 25 when they host Rochester Institute of Technology at Carp Wood Field in a non-conference match up.
