Hartwick Men’s Soccer Settles for Tie in Wild Game With Western Michigan
 

            ONEONTA, NY – Hartwick’s Greg Mathers (Macclesfield, England/Binghamton University) scored a career-best four goals on Saturday but the Hawks squandered a pair of two-goal leads in a 4-4 draw with visiting Western Michigan on Saturday in a Mid-American Conference game on Elmore Field. ’Wick led at the break, 2-0, and regained a 4-2 lead in the 69^th minute. The Broncos came back to tie the score early in the second half and then scored two goals in the final 13:41 to escape with the draw. The Hawks are now 5-5-4 overall and 1-1-2 in the MAC. WMU is 5-11-2 and 1-2-2.
            “It’s a disappointing result because we could have won this game,” said Hartwick head coach John Scott. “We had two goal-leads twice in the game and we had several other opportunities to score but we didn’t come away with a full three points.”
            Mathers gave Hartwick an early lead on the Broncos in the 7^th minute. Junior Simon Greatwich (Lewes, England/Lewes Priory) played a ball across the box which found Cleyon Brown (Kingston, Jamaica/Berkshire School). He delivered a short pass on the penalty mark to Mathers who sent his far-post shot in off the post for a 1-0 lead.
            The game remained a one-goal affair until the 34^th minute when Mathers tallied off a free kick. At the left corner of the Bronco 18-yard box, Mathers swung a left-footed shot just inside the far-post past WMU keeper Sean Lewis and the Hawks’ advantage was two.
            At the half, Hartwick held a 5-3 edge in shots. Both teams earned one corner each.
            In the second half, the Broncos would apply pressure to the Hawks’ defense. After just 16 minutes, the game was tied as WMU scored a pair of goals in a 5:03 span.
            Jason Grant scored off a Joel Del Toro pass in the 57^th minute. Grant then set up teammate Pat Schiffer for the Broncos’ second tally in the 61^st minute.
            It took Hartwick less than eight minutes to jump back in front. Brown was fouled inside the Western Michigan box resulting in a penalty kick. Mathers stepped up and buried a low shot to Lewis’ left for a 3-2 lead.
            Just 27 seconds later, the Hawks were at it again as Brown set up Mathers for his fourth goal of the day. Brown broke up the field and into the box, drew a defender, and delivered a pass to Mathers who made no mistake from 10 yards away, slotting home past Lewis.
            The Hawks looked destined to bring home the three points but Oliver Mayer made things interesting with a goal at the 76:19 mark. Doug Raak earned the assist. ’Wick was only 5:27 away from the win but Mayer tracked down a long ball into the Hartwick box and crept along the end line before finding Schiffer in front. Hartwick goalkeeper Tom Buckner (Oxford, England/Henley College) got a piece of the shot but he couldn’t keep the ball out and the game headed for overtime.
            Neither team produced much in the first extra session. Greatwich had an opportunity early in the second overtime as he found himself alone with Lewis, but his shot went over the Broncos’ crossbar. With under a minute left, a scramble in the WMU box allowed Hartwick’s Jason Keefe (Springfield, MA/Springfield) a shot but his effort deflected off the near post.
            The game ended with WMU holding a 20-13 advantage in shots, including a 13-4 margin in the second half. The Hawks had a 6-3 edge in corners.
            Buckner finished the game with six saves. Lewis stopped four.
            A Bowling Green loss tonight against Northern Illinois would keep the Hawks tied with Western Michigan for fourth in the standings. Hartwick, however, has a game in-hand with two MAC games remaining on its schedule. The Broncos have just one conference game left against BGSU.
            Hartwick travels to Buffalo on Wednesday, November 2 for a 7:30 p.m. game.

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