Despite fighting hard through their downpour duel, the UCA men’s soccer team didn’t quite drown the Jacksonville University Dolphins, but they did secure a favorable position in the ASUN brackets.
The Bears (6-4-5, 5-1-2 ASUN) managed a 2-2 draw against Jacksonville University on the Bears’ home field after a rain delay Oct. 29.
The teams spent most of the game tied, as Jacksonville (3-7-4, 0-4-3 ASUN) quickly cleaned up each UCA lead.
Jacksonville showed a fierce start four minutes in when freshman forward David Robinson put up the game’s first shot on goal, which junior goalkeeper for the Bears Zach Schawl saved.
UCA’s junior midfielder Jerry Gutierrez almost scored with his only shot, but it was saved by Jacksonville goalkeeper Jabari Gray.
In the 27th minute, sophomore defender Richy Lapointe-Guevara scored a goal off a corner kick.
The lead didn’t last long before the Dolphins tidied the score up 1-1, but the Bears held the tie with a team save against Dolphin forward Trey Demps’ shot on goal.
The second half’s first couple of minutes saw the Dolphins save a shot on goal from senior forward Sebastian Andreassen, only for him to score a go-ahead goal seconds later, putting the Bears in the lead 2-1.
Dolphin midfielder Olivier Correra tied the game ten minutes later when a rebound was passed to him, and the last 32 minutes of the game were spent in a defensive battle, neither team able to break the tie.
The final 15 minutes saw a series of shots that showed it was anyone’s game: Schawl saved a bottom-right shot from Correra, and Gray saved a bottom-center shot from graduate midfielder Bernard Assibey-Rhule.
The save was Schawl’s second in the game and his 40th ASUN save of the season, maintaining his spot as the ASUN Conference’s second-place goalie.
Gray blocked Andreassen’s third shot on goal of the afternoon, the game’s final shot.
The explosive second half saw each team receive three yellow cards, compared to the first half’s two.
The game was the last in the team’s regular season, but it placed UCA as the second seed in the ASUN Conference championship, guaranteeing the Bears at least one more home game in the semifinals Monday, Nov. 7.
The tie comes after the Bears’ 1-1 draw against Kansas City and marks six undefeated games.
The cold, wet game also celebrated senior Bears.
The starting 11 players included seniors Karim Diao, Andreassen, Mathias Bendiksen, Assibey-Rhule and Bradyn Knutson.
Other seniors honored were Edoardo Merci, Diego Gonzalez and Rowan Laufer.
Andreassen’s presence on the ASUN offensive leaders list is hard to miss, as he sits in the top five of ASUN Conference players for goals, assists, points and shots with seven, five, 19 and 37, respectively.
Coach Frank Kohlenstein said the wet conditions “changed the game entirely for both teams.”
“You just have to change how you play and do better in those conditions,” he said.
Dolphin redshirt sophomore defender Maxim Pencak said, “Under the conditions, it’s hard to actually play. It’s more of a transition game.”
“The ball doesn’t roll. It was a scrappy game, but I thought we played well,” Pencak said.
Lapointe-Guevara said the tie will make the Bears hungry going into the semifinals.
“We could have done more,” he said.
UCA sophomore defender Daniel Shabani said his team had a lot of energy, but the downpour got in the way.
“Unfortunately, the weather and the field wasn’t really on our side today,” Shabani said. “But, the game is over. Now we just have to focus on the semifinal next Monday.”