ERIE, Pa. – The Mercyhurst University men's soccer team and California University of Pennsylvania expended 110 minutes of energy before settling for a 2-2 overtime tie Tuesday afternoon in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) match. The Lakers are now 5-7-1 overall and 5-1-1 in the PSAC. California left Erie 6-5-1 and 3-3-1 respectively.
Mercyhurst tallied the lone goal of the first half when junior Canadian defender
Michael Dirienzo nailed his second of the season, scoring when California goalie Lucas Exner mishandled the ball and Dirienzo made him pay at 16:44. The Vulcans outshot the Lakers 8-6 in the opening half, but Mercyhurst had a 2-1 edge in shots on goal. Both teams had two corner kicks.
Cal needed only seven minutes of the second half (52:07) to tie the game when Jessie Scheirer headed home a crossing pass. The goal was Scheirer's team-leading seventh of the season. The score also interrupted the Lakers' streak of 187:27 of defensive perfection, having won back-to-back conference shutouts against Pitt-Johnstown and Shippensburg in their two prior matches.
The Vulcans and Scheirer struck again at 58:16. Scheirer collected a pass through the defense and beat Mercyhurst graduate student goaltender
Daniel Lowton to his left.
The Lakers got help from United Kingdom and New Zealand teammates to square things at 2-2 at 73:20. Freshman
Ruaidhri McGuire (U.K.) found redshirt senior
Thomas Davis (New Zealand) through the middle of the defense and his shot eluded Exner. It was Davis' third goal of the season and McGuire's first helper. Neither team scored again in regulation.
California totaled 15 shots in regulation (5 on goal) to eleven for Mercyhurst (5). The Vulcans had a 4-3 edge in corners while each goaltender made five saves.
Mercyhurst outshot California 4-2 in the double overtime and had the lone corner kick. Cal outshot Mercyhurst 17-15 overall, but the Lakers had six of the eleven shots on goal. Both teams divided eight corner kicks evenly. Exner was credited with four saves while Lowton (3-2-1) made three.
The game marked the second overtime contest for the Lakers this season (1-0-1). Mercyhurst edged West Chester 3-2 in double overtime on September 11. Mercyhurst has played nine one-goal contests in 2015 (4-5).
The Lakers will continue conference play Saturday when they travel to Lock Haven for a 7:30 match.