Skyler Stark-Ragsdale struck for his fourth goal of the season less than 10 minutes into the game and
Keller Mochel stopped a penalty kick early in the second half to help the Colorado College men's soccer team earn a hard-fought 1-1 draw against No. 3 Trinity University on Friday night at Washburn Field.
CC, which is 12-5-1 overall and 10-4-1 in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, can lock down second place in the league table and bye in the first round of the SCAC Championship with a victory over Schreiner University on Sunday. Â
Stark-Ragsdale took a pass from sophomore midfielder
Will Mallory and rifled a shot from 28 yards out in the middle of field between the crossbar and the outstretched hands of Trinity goalkeeper Blake Lieberman. Three of Stark-Ragsdale's goals were scored against TU.
CC nearly doubled its lead a little more than 30 seconds later, but this time Lieberman dove to his left to deny Mallory's shot from the top of the box.
Mochel made three saves, including one Jacob Hallenberger's penalty kick late in the 60th minute.
Hallenberger attempted to put a shot inside the left post, but Mochel dove to his right and pushed the ball outside the post with two hands.
Trinity scored the equalizer in the 72nd minute when Quentin Ven Der Lee's direct kick from the right side landed in the box and bounced untouched to Vetle Masvaer Halle, who knocked the ball into the open net.Â
"Our guys showed a tremendous amount of grit and resiliency tonight," head coach
Scott Palguta said. "Ties are never satisfying, but we have to proud of the point earned given the circumstances.
"Both teams really poured a lot into the game and every CC player should have walked off the field knowing they gave their very best effort.
Colorado College finished with a 14-12 edge in total shots and each team earned four corner kicks.
Lieberman stopped three shots for TU, which is 13-1-2 overall and 11-1-1 in the SCAC.
Sunday's game against Schreiner kicks off at noon.
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