Tornado play to a 3-3 draw with Shorter
CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Following their narrow 1-0 loss on Friday night, the King University men's soccer team found their offense early in their match with Shorter University on Saturday evening. The Tornado netted three goals in a six minute span, two from Kendal Liburd, to grab an early lead. However, the Hawks came back and tied the game in the 88th minute and the game eventually ended in a 3-3 tie.
The Tornado (0-1-1) didn't waste any time getting on the board as King ripped a shot that was saved by Shorter's keeper in the ninth minute. However, the save deflected off one of the Hawk defenders and into the net to give King the early 1-0 lead.
Only three minutes later, the Tornado struck again, this time it was Kendale Liburd, who netted his first goal in scarlet and navy. The sophomore placed his shot from the near right wing over the keeper to push the King lead to 2-0.
Liburd struck again in the 16th minute as he took a pass in the box from Eric Wilkening and ripped a one-timer into the back of the net for his second tally of the day, and the Tornado led 3-0.
In the 30th minute, the Hawks (0-0-1) got on the board as Diego Gonzalez took a corner kick and Robert Ocheing headed past King goalkeeperCameron Sauro to cut the deficit to two. Shorter looked to cut that deficit in half in the 43rd minute as Lucas Cavenco had a penalty kick. However, Sauro turned his shot away to keep the score 3-1 King at the half.
Shorter moved play to the other end of the field in the second half, and finally netted another goal on a corner kick in the 70th minute. Gonzalez again put a ball in the box that Cavenco headed into the net to make the score 3-2.
It looked as though the Tornado would hold on for the 3-2 win, but Shorter evened the score in the 88th minute on an own goal, sending the game to overtime.
In the first overtime period, Shorter got the first scoring chance in the 97th minute as goalkeeper Kari Sveinsson turned away a shot from Ocheing. The Tornado then had three chances in the final two minutes as Chris Hicks had a shot blocked from the top if the box and Eli Carrasco followed with a shot off the rebound that was saved by Nicolas Ferringo, the Hawks' keeper. Carrasco had another chanced in the 100th minute, but his shot went wide, sending the game to another extra session.
Just as in the first overtime period, the Hawks pressured King early, this time with three corner kicks and one shot that went wide of the goal in the first four minutes. The Hawks kept pressure on the Tornado and Sveinsson came up with a big save on a shot in the 109th minute to keep the game tied. Following that shot, Shorter took a penalty kick, but the attempt went wide. In a last stitch effort, the Hawks ripped a shot in the 110th minute that sailed right of the goal, ending the game in a 3-3 tie.
"We played a superb first 30 minutes today against a good Shorter team. Unfortunately a combination of injuries, inexperience, and tired legs allowed Shorter back in the game," head coach John Miglarese said.
"We have to learn from our mistakes this weekend. Two poor second halves resulted in us not getting a win in either game. We have a lot of youth on the field and we are learning each game."
Shorter outshot King 28-9, but King placed all nine shots on gfoal while Shorter had 13 shots on goal. The Hawks also had 12 corner kicks to King's two. However, the King keepers registered 10 save while Shorter registered six saves.
Both Sauro and Sveinsson recorded five saves in the game. Liburd tallied two goals to lead the Tornado offense while Wilkening dished out his first career assist.
King will be in action again on Wednesday when they host Tusculum College in their home opener. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. at Parks Field.
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