The Malone University men's soccer team recorded a tie in their second straight match on Saturday, this time against Ohio Dominican by a score of 2-2. Malone picks up an additional point in the conference table, and the Pioneers now hold a record of 4-5-4 overall and are 3-5-3 in Great Midwest Athletic Conference play. The Ohio Dominican Panthers are 4-9-2 this season and 2-7-2 in the G-MAC.
 
With this game result, Malone will hold on to the final spot in the standings to make the conference tournament. The Pioneers have a four point cushion over Ohio Dominican with three matches left to play for both squads.
 
If a rain-soaked fan in attendance blinked, they might have missed the first goal of the game. The Panthers struck just 36 seconds into the match when Amadou Mamadou scored to make it 1-0. A pass from midfield deep into the Ohio Dominican offensive zone would go awry for the Pioneer defense and a streaking Mamadou poked the ball up and over the keeper and into the back of the net.
 
Six of the next seven shots in the game would be taken by Malone as the Pioneers were aggressive in trying to get the game back to even. Gino Finelli and Nathan McFeaters took five of six Pioneer shots in the flurry of offense.
 
As the rain picked up, a foul in the box allowed Evan Dekker to be the answer in the 19th minute with a penalty kick goal.
 
After the equalizer from Dekker, the pendulum would swing back in favor of the Panthers. The Ohio Dominican offense produced six of the last seven shots of the half, just as the Pioneers did earlier in the contest, but were unable to take the lead before the halftime break.
 
The onslaught continued for the Panthers offensively in the second half. Ohio Dominican kept the ball in Malone territory for most of the half and sent nine consecutive shots at the Pioneer keeper Nick Wilhelm.
 
Interior passing and quick ball movement from Ohio Dominican led to a shot by Khalif Hassan that was blocked by Wilhelm, but Cooper Johnson was there for the rebound and the score to take a 2-1 lead in the 75th minute.
 
In what looked like a repeat from Thursday's game, Malone netted a goal late to avoid a crucial conference loss. The hero of the Cedarville match, Patrick Alvarez, lofted a pass to the Pioneers' leading goal scorer in Nathan McFeaters to set up the game-tying score in the 87th minute. From close range, McFeaters jumped with a pair of Panther defenders, and even in traffic, was able to get a head on the ball and squeezed it between the goalie and the right post for his 10th goal of the season.
 
The Pioneers were outshot 6-1 in both overtime periods, but the defense stood tall when it mattered most and neither team was able to convert a game winner.
 
Finelli led the way with five total shots, followed by McFeaters with three, Jake Martell with two, and one apiece from Dekker, Simon Eybert and Christopher Mally.
 
Wilhelm finished with six saves in goal.
 
Malone comes home for two of their final three matches. The next time the Pioneers will take the field is Thursday, October 31 at 1 pm in a home contest versus Findlay.