Lenoir-Rhyne Men's Soccer Battle Lincoln Memorial University To Scoreless Draw
October 10, 2009
Courtesy of Lenoir-Rhyne
Hickory, NC – The Lenoir-Rhyne University Men’s Soccer Team (6-4-2, 2-1-1) faced off against South Atlantic Conference-foe Lincoln Memorial University (7-2-1, 3-0-1) Saturday night at the Moretz Sports – Athletic Complex and finished with a scoreless draw. After 110 minutes of end-to-end action, only the goalkeepers were victorious.
The contest featured creative technical play and vicious tackling as both teams were able to generate their share of scoring chances. Senior goalkeeper Francisco Banuelos (Guadalajara, Mexico) was brilliant in goal for the Bears and he was matched 120 yards away by the play of sophomore goalkeeper Michael Watkins (Statesville, NC) for LMU.
Banuelos made 10 saves for the Bears, his best coming in the 90th minute of regulation. Forward Willian Moura (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) saved a ball from going out of bounds along the L-R goal line on the left side. Moura circled back to his right and put a point blank shot on frame and Banuelos made the diving stop with just 18 seconds remaining in the game.
L-R gained momentum in the first overtime frame as junior Dave Bailey (Bath, England) and sophomore Brendan Howard (Tampa, FL) each had a shot that just missed the frame goal.
The Bears’ best chance came with 4:23 remaining in the second overtime. Howard drove a deep through ball to Bailey, who took a touch in stride. From there, he broke away from the LMU defense and placed a shot to the left side that was turned away by Watkins’ fingertips.
Banuelos finished the game with 10 saves for L-R while Watkins made six saves for Lincoln Memorial in the draw.
L-R will remain at home this Wednesday continuing South Atlantic Conference play against Mars Hill. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. LMU hosts Milligan on Wednesday beginning at 4 p.m.
