ST. DAVID'S, Pa. – The Cairn University men's soccer team utilized two second-half goals to battle to a 2-2 draw on the road at non-conference foe Eastern University on Wednesday afternoon.
"It's always tough to get results on the road, and I thought our guys showed a lot of resolve in the second half to secure a hard earned tie against a good team" remarked Head Coach
Luke Gibson.
Cairn (1-2-2) tallied the first shot of the contest off the foot of senior
Aaron Campbell (Coopersburg, PA / Upper Bucks Christian) in the 11
th minute. However, Eastern (1-3-1) got on the scoreboard first late in the first half when a free kick bounced around the box and off a Highlander defender, into the back of the net for an own goal to put the Eagles on top, 1-0. Eastern took that 1-0 lead into intermission.
The Highlanders had a quick answer in the second half, when senior
David Falcon (Wayne, NJ / Hawthorne Christian) darted down the left side of the pitch and found sophomore
Jesse Brittain (Chester, PA / The Christian Academy) inside the box for the tally to knot the game up at one a-piece in the 48
th minute. Cairn went back to work just nine minutes later, when the ball got tangled up between the teams in Eagles territory and sophomore
Moses Beers (Lancaster, PA / Manheim Township) flicked the ball to junior
Joshua Smith (Attleboro, MA / Homeschooled) from 15 yards out. Smith then rocketed a shot upper 90 past the keeper's outstretched left side to put Cairn in front, 2-1, marking Smith's first career tally.
The Eagles got a golden opportunity in the 68
th minute, firing an attempt off the top woodwork, but a foul by the Highlanders granted Eastern with a penalty kick opportunity. The Eagles proceeded to convert the attempt to knot the game up at two a-piece. The Eagles earned two more quality chances in the contest but sophomore
Chris Eelman (North Haledon, NJ / Hawthorne Christian) turned both attempts aside and the bout finished in a 2-2 draw.
Eastern held the edge in shots (17-5), but both teams were nearly even in shots on goal, with the Eagles holding a 4-3 advantage in that department. Eelman snagged three saves between the pips for the Highlanders in a complete game effort.
The Highlanders will be back on the pitch on Saturday, September 17 when they return home to welcome Elizabethtown College to Langhorne for a non-conference tilt inside the Stillman Complex at 7 p.m.
