After a thrilling last minute goal to pull out a draw on Saturday, Centre played a nearly similar tune in Sunday's finale of the 36th annual Bob Allen Nissan Classic at Amend Field. A penalty kick goal from
Finnegan Deem-Ranzetta in the 88th minute salvaged a 2-2 draw against Maryville.
Centre came out aggressive with the ball and nearly had an opening goal twice inside the 7th minute. Deem-Ranzetta had a go inside the box that was blocked off the line.
Tyler Smith had a chance on the rebound but was also denied just outside the goal line to keep the game scoreless. From there, the teams traded runs as Maryville began to take control of the ball, but the Colonel D stayed tough, denying a single shot until the final minute of the half.
The back-and-forth continued into the 2nd half.
Martin Cortez stopped a Maryville shot in the 53rd minute. Just over 3 minutes later, Centre pushed its way into the Maryville box as
Ryan O'Hara broke free up the right side, dribbled left around the Scot goalie and tucked the ball home with a left foot to give the Colonels the lead. The lead was short lived as Maryville responded with a tally in the 66th minute to draw level.
The Scots kept the pressure up approaching the 80th minute. A diving save from
Martin Cortez set up a Maryville corner. The ball from the corner was perfectly placed into the box as the Scots finished the set piece with a perfect header to take a 2-1 lead with just over 10 minutes to play.
AJ Daniels nearly had the answer just a minute, 26 seconds later but was denied at the last moment. Centre kept the pressure coming as
Amit Shahar fought threw 4 Scot defenders to work his way into the box. As Shahar was moving for a shot, he was brought down from behind. The referee pointed to the penalty spot with just 2:42 to go.
Finnegan Deem-Ranzetta stepped forward looking for the tie. His strike went to the lower left corner of the goal, deflecting off the keeper's hand and back, before trickling in for the tie and giving Centre its 2nd straight dramatic tie.
Centre next hits the road for a weekend trip to North Carolina, starting on Saturday with a matchup at Brevard. Kickoff is set for 2:00pm.
