BOONE, N.C.- Appalachian State University men's soccer (7-6-3, 4-2-1 SoCon) battled back in the second half to tie College of Charleston (10-3-3, 4-1-2 SoCon) after being down 2-0 with less than eight minutes left in regulation to force double overtime in a 2-2 draw on Saturday afternoon at Patriots Point Soccer Athletics Complex.
The first half of action was an uphill battle for the Mountaineers as they were outshot, 10-5. Appalachian gave up its first shot at the 1:27 minute mark to CofC's Andy Craven as he took back-to-back strikes at the net, but freshman Danny Free caught both shots to record his first saves since ASU's 1-0 loss to Campbell in September.
The Mountaineers cleared out the net and set up the offense, allowing junior Chad Dalton to take consecutive shots with one shot hitting the crossbar and the other sailing high with almost five minutes elapsed in action.
CofC's Kareem Yearwood took a high shot and Sean De Silva found Andy Craven to nail a goal off the far post to put the Cougars up 1-0 at 7:54.
Both teams exchanged shots on their respective ends of the field, but the score remained at 1-0 after 45 minutes of play.
After being outshot in the first half, Appalachian came out in the second half more aggressive with its shot selections.
Senior Steven Sassano took his only shot of the match to open the second half at 46:40, but it was high. Following two CofC fouls and a corner kick that resulted in nothing, Dalton took a quality shot at the goal, but it was saved by CofC's Kees Heemskerk.
After receiving a yellow card at 52:06, senior Antonio Harley regrouped and took Appalachian's next shot at 58:38, but he was off the mark.
Following a Cougar shot that hit the post, junior Sean Dreybus, who had a quiet first half, tried to tie up the match, but his shot traveled wide right.
After two more shots by Dreybus and sophomore David Dodge, the Cougars picked away at the Mountaineer defense until De Silva broke through to net his seventh goal of the season at 82:41.
With time running out for ASU, Dodge took a second shot at 84:26, but it was saved by Heemskerk. The Cougars were whistled for a foul, setting up Appalachian's second penalty kick of the season. Dodge stroked the kick for his first goal of the season and second of his career to put the match at a 2-1 stance.
Dodge came back at the Cougar defense at 87:35, looking to tie up the match and send it into overtime, but his attempt was blocked. The Mountaineers set the offense back up again and freshman Harrison Delbridge, who had only attempted a single shot on the season, broke through for his first goal of the season at 89:01, setting up a 2-2 draw to send the match into overtime.
In the first overtime, ASU was outshot 3-1, with only Dreybus getting a good look at the goal. With neither team able to breakthrough, the match went into a second overtime where the Cougars were more aggressive on their shots, but none were able to get past Free as the match ended in a 2-2 draw.
Free (2-1-1) notched the decision and tallied six saves, while Heemskerk moved to 10-3-3 and recorded six saves, as well.
ASU closed the gap in the shot column, only losing that battle 22-18. Dreybus and Dodge took the majority of the shots for Appalachian, recording five and four shots, respectively.
The Mountaineers will wait for the results of other matches from Saturday to find out seeding for next week's Southern Conference tournament. Check back on www.GoASU.com for more information on tournament action.
