'Roo Men Battle to Draw with Nelson

SHERMAN, Texas - The Austin College men's soccer team got on the board first but had to battle back from a deficit late, getting a penalty kick from Pierce Wear to earn a 2-2 draw with Nelson University on Monday evening. The 'Roos are now 1-3-1 overall on the season.

The game was scoreless for better than 20 minutes, until Jonah Ferrante found Jose Nandin for a goal at the 24:30 mark to put Austin College on top. However, the 'Roo lead didn't last long, with Ethan Stewart feeding Teddy Nkamanyi in the 29th minute to even things up, and the game would remain tied heading into halftime. Nelson owned a 14-to-5 shot advantage in the opening half, with 'Roo goalkeeper Jayson Baldwin making three saves in the first 45 minutes.

Baldwin made three more saves after halftime, including a pair of spectacular efforts midway through the half to keep things square, but the Lions broke through with a go-ahead goal off the foot of Figueirido Mattoso on a rebound in the 63rd minute to make it a 2-1 game. It seemed as though Nelson was headed toward a win when the 'Roos drew a penalty kick with less than 10 minutes remaining, and Wear stepped up and delivered the equalizer at the 80:55 mark. That's how things would finish, as neither team was able to finish a scoring chance down the stretch. Nelson ended the night with a 26-to-15 shot advantage, but it was just 8-to-6 in terms of shots on goal in the match.