Easton, Pennsylvania---After two late goals in regulation, overtime couldn’t decide a victor as the St. Francis Brooklyn men’s soccer team and the Lafayette College Leopards played to a 2-2 draw on Saturday afternoon in Easton, Pennsylvania. The Terriers are still in search of their first victory of the season as they stand at 0-4-1 while the Lafayette Leopards are 1-3-1 on the campaign. 

Lafayette struck first in the 5th minute of the contest. The Leopards’ Ben Marks took the corner kick from the left side of the field.  He drove a high-arching strike that teammate Christian Moyse was able to out-jump a pair of Terriers in the box and put one past junior goalkeeper Jack Binks for the early advantage. The Leopards nearly took a 2-0 advantage as they were able to go out on the attack.  Daniel Felman sent a shot on target that was stopped by Binks to keep the deficit at one. 

St. Francis Brooklyn rallied to tie the contest at one.  In the 11th minute, newcomer Vincent Bezecourt took the free-kick from the right wing, about thirty yards out, as he was able to send the left-footed strike into the box.  Sophomore defender Paul Galimi was able to soar in on goal and head one past the Leopards goalkeeper, Sandy Leavy.  For Galimi, it is his first career goal while Bezecourt notched his first career assist. The Terriers were trying to capitalize on the momentum after getting the tying-goal, as in the 16th minute, sophomore Fabian Suele was able to create some space around the top of the 18 yard box as his shot attempt was blocked by a Lafayette defender. 

In the 23rd minute, Lafayette created a 2-on-1 scoring chance but the shot off Quentin Anson’s foot was directed left of the net, keeping the score deadlocked at one.  The Terriers had a chance of their own two minutes later as junior midfielder Harry Odell’s shot attempt was also misdirected wide of the net. 

In the 35th minute, sophomore Salvatore Barone had chance to give the visitors the lead. The Brooklyn native booted a left-footed chance that found the arms of the Leopards keeper.   On the next Terrier offensive chance, Bezecourt found a seam in the Leopards’ defense as the freshman midfielder fired his attempt that narrowly beat Leavy.

In the 53rd minute, Barone nearly notched the go-ahead goal from deep atop the box as he sent a high looping attempt which smacked the crossbar. The Leopards had a golden chance in the 70th minute as Marks sent the corner kick into the box that found the foot of Felman. He proceeded to blast a shot from point blank range which was stopped by Binks diving to his left for the big save. 

St. Francis Brooklyn took a 2-1 advantage late as sophomore Nyle Patel tallied his first career goal in the 86th minute.  The ball was played across the field to the right top of the box.  After it was deflected a couple of times, Patel settled the ball and rocketed the shot to the far right corner to give the visitors the one-goal lead.

Lafayette tied the match two minutes later off the foot of Greg Biggiani.  Felman was able to cross the ball from the left side that found Biggiani on the near side of the goal. Biggiani leaped high in the air and headed the volley to the back of the net to even the match at two.
In the 93rd minute, the home eleven nearly sent the Terriers to their fifth straight defeat as Biggiani’s shot sailed high over the goal after firing it from about 35 yards out on a one-on-one attempt.  On the next Terrier possession, Bezecourt misfired wide in the 95th minute after locating the loose ball off a deflection at the top of the box.

St. Francis Brooklyn controlled the tempo in the second overtime.  In the 102nd, Galimi narrowly had his second goal of the match as his header attempt was denied by Lafayette defender Andrew Gonzalez.  The play was set-up by Patel, who launched the corner kick into the box where Galimi was able to head the ball. 

In the 107th, senior co-captain Riccardo Milano fired a shot high after Bezecourt took his third free-kick of the match.  Milano was able to play the ball but misfired on the attempt.  In the final minute of play, Bezecourt beat his defender and crossed the ball over from his left to his right foot and in the same motion fired a shot that was deflected out of play by Lafayette keeper, Leavy.   On the final play of the contest, the Leopards had a chance from the left side of the field but were deemed offside. 

The Terriers outshot the Leopards 15-13 and 4-2 in the overtime sessions while Lafayette took seven corner kicks to six from the Terriers.  Binks was credited with three saves on the afternoon while his counterpart Leavy stopped four shots.

St. Francis Brooklyn will be in action on Tuesday, September 16th as they welcome the Howard University Bison to Brooklyn Heights.  Kick-off from Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 5 is slated for 7:00 pm.
 

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