NO. 15 ONU MOVES A STEP CLOSER TO CCAC TITLE WITH 2-2 DRAW AGAINST HCC

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – The No. 15 Olivet Nazarene University men's soccer program played to a 2-2 result against the Saints of Holy Cross College Tuesday night at Ward Field. Konstantin Papanikolaou and Max Jasper each scored as the Tiger trailed twice but saved a point to stay on top of the CCAC standings

The top two defenses in the conference stood firm for the first 45 minutes of the match. The best opportunity for the Tigers came in the 10th minute when the Saints' netminder, Claudio Fuentealba was whistled for delaying the game resulting in an ONU indirect kick inside the penalty box. Justin Eisenmann's effort looked good off his foot but was blocked by a HCC defender.

The Saints' looked dangerous on the counter. Mike Giannotta was called to action to make back-to-back saves in the 24^th minute from close range to keep the game scoreless. The visitors outshot the home side 9-6 but were level with three shots on goal each.

Halftime: Olivet Nazarene 0, Holy Cross 0

All four goals on the night were scored in the second half. Against the run of play, HCC scored the game's first goal in the 56th minute. A long ball to the far post was nodded in by Kevin Vidana. The Tigers answered 13 minutes later as Papanikolaou drew a foul inside the penalty box for an ONU spot-kick opportunity. The Switzerland native buried his attempt into the bottom right corner to level the score.

Holy Cross regained the lead in the 79^th minute taking advantage of a set piece from outside the 18-yard box. With time winding down, Max Jasper saved the Tigers a point. Nick Kilian's counter regained possession for Olivet. Jasper took the shot on a half volley to even the score 2-2. Jasper looked to score a late winner in the last 10 seconds forcing a save by the HCC goalkeeper

The Tigers now need to win on Saturday against Calumet to secure their second consecutive conference regular season title and home-field advantage throughout the CCAC tournament.

GAME VITALS

Final: No. 15 Olivet Nazarene 2, Holy Cross 2

Records: Olivet Nazarene: 12-1-3 (8-0-3 CCAC) | Holy Cross 9-4-4 (7-1-4 CCAC)

Location: Ward Field| Olivet Nazarene University | Bourbonnais, Ill.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Tigers finish the regular season with a match on the road to take on Calumet St. Joesph this Saturday, Oct. 29 at 1:30 p.m. Please visit onutigers.com for all the links to follow along.

—ONU—

*Contact: Patrick Kaindl, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, pkaindl@olivet.edu