Yellowjackets and Crusaders Battle to 2-2 Tie on Futbol Frenzy Saturday

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BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings men’s soccer team couldn’t hold onto a 2-0 lead as visiting Northwest Nazarene roared back in the second half to force a 2-2 tie on Futbol Frenzy Saturday at Yellowjacket Field. With the tie, the Yellowjackets stand a 7-2-2 overall and 2-0-2 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. NNU stands at 3-6-1 overall and 0-2-1 in conference play.

“We played great for the first 50 minutes and we were in complete control of the game winning 2-0 at home, but at that point we stopped doing the correct things and let NNU back into the game with a bad goal from our perspective,” head coach Dan McNally said. “The rest of the game could have gone either way – they created a number of chances and we created a number of chances.”

The Yellowjackets came out firing on all cylinders as Jeremy DeHerrera fired a beautiful pass to Sam Charles, who scored his 12th goal of the season just 6:29 into the contest. It was Charles’ GNAC record 14th-consecutive game with at least a point dating back to last season.

The Yellowjackets created a number of scoring chances in the first half, but settled for the 1-0 lead at halftime. MSUB outshot NNU 5-3 in the opening half.

Things continued to look good for the home team in the opening moments of the second half as Garion Holian notched his fifth goal of the year with an assist from Chris Andre and DeHerrera for a 2-0 lead just 54 seconds into the second half.

NNU and Matt Larson had other ideas as he fired a long shot from about 30-yards out to the upper right corner of the net at the 54:55 mark to get the Crusaders on the board. From that moment on, the momentum swung back towards NNU as it found new life.

John Stump found the back of the net in the 71st minute to tie the game as he fired a shot from right outside the post to the back left corner for a 2-2 score.

Despite the score and the momentum swing, the Yellowjackets continued to have good looks, but nothing would fall. MSUB outshot NNU 11-7 in the second half. In addition, NNU goalkeeper, Cesar Lira, made seven saves in the second half alone and eight for the game to go along with two team saves.

Lira made his first start and first appearance in goal of the season against the Yellowjackets.

In the overtimes, MSUB and NNU each had opportunities as the teams combined for five shots in the extra time. In the second overtime, MSUB defender, Ross Carmichael got a header in the box, but Lira came up with the crucial save to preserve the tie.

“Although we are disappointed to only tie, we are unbeaten in six-straight games, it is another point in the conference and we will move on and get ready for our game at the University of Mary Friday,” McNally added.

For the game, the Yellowjackets outshot NNU 18-13 and 12-7 in shots on goal. Charles led the way with seven shots and five on goal with the score. DeHerrera had two assists. Stump led the way for NNU with four shots on goal and the equalizer.

The Yellowjackets return to the road for four-straight beginning Friday, Oct. 9 at the University of Mary. MSUB then will return to Billings and play at Rocky Mountain College Oct. 11 at 2:30 p.m.