BOXSCORE

HENNIKER, N.H. – The New England College men's soccer team battled to a 1-1 tie against visiting Gordon College in non-conference action on Wednesday evening at Don Melander Field in Henniker, New Hampshire.

THE BASICS
Score:                    Gordon 1, New England College 1
Records:               Pilgrims 4-4-1 | Scots 2-6-3

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After a scoreless first half, the visitors seized the lead in the 54^th minute when Gordon sophomore forward Benji Wright (Franklin, Tenn.) took a pass from teammate sophomore defenseman Adrian Chiang (Austin, Texas) near midfield and exploded towards the NEC goal on a breakaway, finishing with a chip shot for his third goal of the season as the Scots went up 1-0.
• The Pilgrims nearly found the equalizer four minutes later when junior forward Logan Cassin (Penacook, N.H.) – NEC's leading goal-scorer – broke through the defense on the left side. But Gordon freshman defender Max Cardone (Villanova, Pa.) blocked the kick to end the threat, and the home team remained scoreless.
• With 24:41 and time running out for the Pilgrims when a misplay of a throw-in by the Scots' keeper opened a golden opportunity quickly exploited by NEC sophomore midfielder William Scala (Manchester, N.H.), who recovered the misplay and shot for his second goal of the season to tie it up at 1-1.
• With three minutes left in the game, Scala had another opportunity to create a Pilgrim goal as he set up for a crunch time corner kick. But the ball was deflected out of the box by a Scots' header and the keeper quickly recovered to turn NEC away again.
• Gordon had one final opportunity off a header with less than two seconds left from freshman defenseman Nathan Starzl (Gadsden, Ala.). But the ball sailed over the net as the clock hit zero.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• NEC sophomore goalkeeper Ricardo Aguilera (Ibagué, Colombia) tallied eight saves on the night for the Pilgrims.
• Gordon sophomore goalkeeper Thomas Reardon (Rutland, Mass.) had the start for the Scots, finishing with three stops.
• Shots were 18-15 in favor of Gordon.
• The Pilgrims are now 10-31-4 all-time against the Scots.
• [It was the first tie in program history since the NCAA eliminated the overtime period from regular season competition prior to this season.]

UP NEXT

• NEC is back in action on Saturday when they travel to Eastern Nazarene College for an NECC matchup beginning at 1:00 p.m.
• Gordon hosts Western New England in their next contest, that coming on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.

For continuing coverage of New England College Athletics, visit athletics.nec.edu and follow the Pilgrims on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.