Hartford, Conn. - The Trinity College men's soccer team played Amherst, the number one ranked team in the country, to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday evening in a game that saw 30 combined fouls and six combined yellow cards on top of a steady rain that fell for the majority of the match. Trinity moves to 6-5-4 on the season and 3-5-2 in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) while Amherst fails to win for the first time this year, moving to 14-0-1. 

The tone was set in the first half as both teams played a high energy, physical match. The Bantams had the first scoring opportunity of the day 19 minutes into the half when sophomore Alex Bednarek (Kensington, Conn.) fired a shot on goal that was saved by Amherst goalie Thomas Bull (Montgomery, N.J.), his first of five saves on the evening. The Lord Jeffs saw their first true scoring opportunity when Greg Singer (San Jose, Calif.) was fouled in the box, leading to a penalty kick try that Singer was able to put past Bantam goalie Domenic Quade (Norwood, Mass.) to move Amherst ahead, 1-0, in the 26th minute. Trinity almost tied things with a minute left in the half as Scott Brazina (Concord, Mass.) had a clean look at the goal and fired a shot from about 25 yards out but pulled it wide left, as Trinity went into the half trailing Amherst by one. 

The second half began without incident until the 61st minute when junior Tobias Gimand (Fairfield, Conn.) received a pass from senior Mark Perreault (Southborough, Mass.) near the top of the Amherst box. Gimand controlled the ball, carved up the Amherst defense and blasted a shot with his left foot that sailed into the upper left corner of the net past the outreached arms of Bull.

Amherst thought they took a 2-1 lead in the 65th minute after the ball found the back of the net during a scrum in front of Quade, however the Lord Jeffs were called offsides which nullified the goal, keeping the score 1-1. Trinity found themselves in a similar situation with 14:10 remaining as junior Dan O'Neil (North Potomac, Md.) sent a shot into the back of the net that also did not count as it was Trinity that was offsides. The Bantams would see one more scoring opportunity as Cody Savonen (Orleans, Mass.) tried his best at a game-winner with five minutes remaining, however Bull was able to corral the ball and keep the score knotted at the end of regulation. 

The first two minutes of overtime had two good scoring opportunities by both teams. Amherst player Bryce Ciambella (Ocala, Fla.) ripped a shot that sailed high in the first minute, followed by a shot from Perreault that also sailed high. 

Quade recorded nine saves on the evening, none two bigger than the back to back shots he swatted away from goal during a frenzy in front of the net to force a second extra session. Quade recorded another huge stop during the 107th minute in the second overtime to keep things tied at one before Savonen scored what would have been the game winner for Trinity inside two minutes to play, however another offsides by the Bantams negated it as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

Prior to today, Trinity has not beaten or tied Amherst since 1999. Bantam head coach Mike Pilger was proud with how his team played this evening.

"It was nice to break that [winning streak] up. We could have won. The two goals that didn't count, their goalie makes a great save... for us to be able to defend the corners, the throw ins - it's nice.  It's hard to not use words like 'proud'. The kids played great. Mark Perreault, Malcolm Joseph, Josh Leblanc - the seniors. They played great."

For Gimand, it was his fifth goal of the season as he is second on the team in points (14), just three behind Savonen. 

"Tobias Gimand is the best player in the league. He was the best player on the field and that's the best team in the country. It was a great team effort. It's great to see us play well and compete. I'm just proud of them. They know they can compete with the number one team in the country."

Trinity will play in the first round of the NESCAC Conference Playoffs on Saturday, October 31, however it has yet to be determined who or where they will play. When asked about the direction of the team headed into the playoffs, Coach Pilger added this.

"Our guys probably feel real good going into this weekend, win lose or draw."