NEWARK, N.J. (Nov. 14, 2015) – In an ECAC Division III Metro/Upstate championships semifinal match with No. 2 Rutgers-Newark, the No. 3 Drew men's soccer team took the Scarlet Raiders to overtime, but lost on a corner kick, 1-0.
Freshman goalie
Stephan Lukianov made six saves in regulation, allowing no goals until the overtime period. Junior forward
Ian Pavlak and freshman
Anthony McMyne tried four combined shots in the setback.
Just over two minutes into overtime, the Scarlet Raiders arranged for another corner kick. This one was corralled at the top of the box and sent, off the chest, across to a striker. The goal scorer wound up and fired home the contest's only conversion. The golden goal put Drew away.
Lukianov, in just his second start of the year, immediately made his presence felt. Three minutes in, Rutgers-Newark was moving fast and quickly got a ball up in the box. A forward tried a flick-on header that Lukinov deflected. A minute later they tried a strike that Lukianov had to dive to take care of. Two shots, two saves to start it off.
The teams matched each other the whole way, alternating shots and saves. With 20 minutes to play, the Rangers got it deep and forced two corner kicks. Sophomore forward
Benjamin Audi booted them into the zone and on the second, Pavlak soared into the fray and put a header on that flew just over the crossbar. The teams remained deadlocked at a scoreless tie.
Pavlak would take a blocked shot rebound down the field and have another go at the net. The Scarlet Raiders goaltender turned this one away as well, adding to the growing collective save total. Still, the score remained at 0-0 with 10 minutes to go.
Just seconds remained when the Scarlet Raiders arranged in the offensive zone for a corner kick. They sent in a header that was kicked back out of bounds by a Ranger before it could reach the goalmouth. Rutgers-Newark's last try at the net went as every other one did, without a goal and the teams headed to overtime, scoreless. The contest ended three minutes into the overtime period.
