No doubt about today's man of the match. Will Felitto led the Ephs to a well-earned 2-2 draw with two powerful headers in the 12th minute and 67th minute.
Both teams headed into today's matchup following big wins on Saturday: the Jumbos won 3-2 at Amherst, and the Ephs beat Bates 4-0.
The Ephs came out the gate running, creating opportunities left and right. Senior Nathan Song had a shot blocked 6 minutes into the first half, and earned a penalty kick just 5 minutes later.
Will Felitto's penalty shot to the bottom right corner was well-saved by Jumbo shot stopper Erik Lauta. Just two minutes later, Felitto capitalized on a perfectly-placed cross from deep by Cole Moriello into the box, heading with power into the top-right corner.
Even after taking the lead, the Ephs' defense held solid. Henry Osborn showed his everlasting defensive presence with an assertive defensive header in the 13th minute. Moments later, Felipe Gutierrez stopped a 3 vs. 1 with a great hustle play and crucial block, saving a goal and earning applause from the fans at Cole Field.
Even Ephs' keeper Ben Diffley forced a save from an Ian Daly knuckle ball from just outside the box.
But minutes later, the Jumbos showed why they are perennial NESCAC favorites in the 21st minute, when Mateo Bargagna finished off some nifty play by Ian Daly, dispatching his effort low and past Diffley.
The away team took the lead in the 44th minute after Daniel Yanez belted an effort from 25 yards into the top right corner.
The Ephs started the second half eager to equalize –– Nick Boardman saw his header glaze off the post in the 48th minute. Thirty seconds later, Moriello lofted another one to Sam Gibson, who just missed the goal frame.
Eamon Gara Grady showed his defensive dominance with a crunching slide tackle in the 50th minute, much to the delight of the home section.
Jake Saudek also came close to scoring for the Ephs, with his second effort off a Felitto header that went just over the post in the 59th minute. And as always, Will Felitto caused trouble to the Jumbo's back line, with a trio of good headers teetering on the edge of equalizing for the Ephs.
Fourth time's a charm, right? In the 68th minute, Felitto headed a Boardman cross up to himself, and rose over four Tufts defenders to equalize. The home fans, justifiably, went wild.
However, neither side could break through the other's defense, and the match ended in a well-earned draw. Eph head coach Steffen Siebert noted, "We had a great start and we were really on top of the game in the first 20 minutes. It took another great team performance to get the result coming from behind against a 4-time national champion team. This is the first time the 5th year seniors have earned a result versus Tufts. It was a plus four weekend for us and we're looking forward to our trip to Maine next weekend."
The Ephs ended this battle 1-0-1 in NESCAC play. Their next match is at Colby College on Sep. 24.
Original source can be found here.
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