AMERICUS, Ga. – On a rainy Hurricane Field Saturday night, the Lander men's soccer team settled for a 2-2 draw against Georgia Southwestern at the halfway point of the conference season.
Lander (3-4-3, 2-2-2 PBC) held a 2-0 lead with 40 minutes to play but GSW (2-6-3, 0-4-3 PBC) found goals in the 60th and 80th minutes to force the tie.
Lander controlled the action during the opening half and outshot the Canes 10-4, including a 4-1 edge in shots on target.
Jack Neumann tallied his first career goal in the 16th minute to put the Bearcats on the board.
Savvas Chionakis had a shot blocked that trickled to Neumann who got just enough energy behind the ball to push it past the keeper.
It appeared coming out of the break that it would be much of the same for the Bearcats as
Callum Gregory connected with
Dylan Colley on a perfect free-kick into the box only four minutes into the second half; Colley's header was his first of the year like his defensive mate.
But GSW seemed to catch Lander flat-footed on a free-kick sequence and made it a one-goal match 10 minutes later.
The Bearcats tried in earnest to restore their two-goal advantage, producing a corner-kick in the 65th minute.
Robin Swagemakers sent a pass into the box on a set-piece and Colley got his head on it but was denied a two-goal night.
Chionakis deftly maneuvered his way through defenders to set himself up with a great scoring opportunity seven minutes later in the box, though he met his match when the GSW keeper sprawled out for a diving save.
GSW turned the Bearcats over at midfield in the 80th minute and soon called
Ionas Giovanidis into action. Giovanidis stopped the initial shot but a Hurricane deposited the rebound into the net.
Giovanidis made two saves over the final minutes to preserve the 2-2 score.
LU will regroup to face current-No. 15 North Georgia on Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 7:30 p.m. The Bearcats tied the Nighthawks 3-all back on Sept. 9 in Dahlonega when they were ranked second.
