BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – The Ottawa University men's soccer team went toe-to-toe with No. 16 Oklahoma Wesleyan on Wednesday evening, coming out of Bartlesville with a 3-3 draw against the Eagles.
Bence Molnar scored the opening goal in the 26
th minute to put the Braves up 1-0, assisted by
Slobodan Novicevic. A lunging OKWU defender mistimed the pass from Novicevic, allowing Molnar space and time for a perfect strike into the bottom right of the goal. Just when it looked like the Braves would head into halftime with a lead, the Eagles managed to catch OU off guard with a goal from Stefan Cvetanovic in the 44
th minute. The squads headed into halftime deadlocked at 1-1.
The opening of the second half was a fireworks show, with the teams combining for four goals in the first 10 minutes. Kevin Petrmichl gave OKWU their first lead of the match in the 49
th minute, but Molnar would strike again just one minute later. Molnar's second goal all started when
Francisco Arrua earned OU a free kick just outside the box in the 50
th minute. As Molnar stood over the ball on the free kick, he realized the referee never stopped play and the Eagles' goalkeeper was still organizing the defensive wall. He then shot the ball when no one on OKWU's defense was looking, finding the back of the net from 20 yards out before the Eagles knew what was happening.
The game wouldn't stay tied for much longer, OKWU once again answered in the 52
nd minute with a goal from Ivan Tadic. The Eagles lead wouldn't last much longer either,
Slobodan Novicevic decided to get into the action with a game tying goal just two minutes later in the 54
th minute.
Jarrin Kerkhoff whipped in a cross from the right flank, finding Novicevic who showed his big man athleticism on an impressive volley where his whole body was parallel to the ground in the middle of the air. After all the excitement to start the second half, both defenses locked down for the remainder of the match.
Julio Coronado made some big saves towards the end of the match to keep the Braves level, finishing with eight saves on the night. The teams settled for the 3-3 draw after 90 minutes of play.
Up Next: The Braves are off Saturday while everyone else in the conference finishes regular season play with one final match. OU has a solid chance to host a KCAC Tournament Quarterfinal at AdventHealth Field as a top-four seed. Stay tuned to OttawaBraves.com for KCAC Tournament seedings and First Round information after the regular season concludes on Saturday.
