Louisville, Ky. - For 85 minutes, Centre Men's Soccer looked in deep trouble on Sunday against Rose-Hulman.
Tyler Smith took it upon himself to end the frustration. Two goals in the waning minutes gave the Colonels a stunning draw to complete the JR Hoe Invitational.
Rose-Hulman grabbed a near immediate lead.
Ethan Cajuste was called for a foul in the defensive box to give the Fightin' Engineers a penalty shot, which was converted for the early 1-0 lead. Centre's first chance came in the 22nd minute when
Ryan O'Hara had the first go at goal, but the shot was saved. Rose-Hulman took momentum back in the 28th minute with another goal to double the lead and rode it to halftime.
Centre's offense struggled to find viable chances for much of the second half.
Chandler Hamilton missed wide on a shot in the 53rd minute. The next chance would not come for another 15 minutes on a wide chance from
Jacob Tyler. The Colonels kept looking for options and caught a massive break in the 87th minute. A Rose-Hulman yellow card in the box set the stage for
Tyler Smith. The junior stepped to the spot and easily dispatched the ball into the net to get the Colonels on the board. Centre took the shot in the arm and immediately went for the tie. They needed just 1:54 to get it.
Ryan O'Hara and
Gideon Malone set it up and Smith was the man on the end to slot the ball home again for a stunning 2-2 tie. Rose-Hulman had a final chance for the winner with 39 seconds left, but the ball carried wide left and Centre escaped with the tie.
The Colonels next turn their focus to the 37th annual Bob Allen Nissan Classic next weekend at Amend Field. The action starts on Friday night as Spalding battles Brevard at 5:30pm. Centre takes on Aurora at 7:45pm with all matches being streamed on FloCollege.
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