Men’s Soccer Comes Away With 1-1 Tie at Holy Cross

Wednesday, October 7

Worcester, Mass.

7:05 PM ET

Army West Point

2-4-3, 0-1-1PL

Holy Cross

3-3-4, 1-0-2PL

OT 3

OT 4

Army West Point

Holy Cross

Men’s Soccer Comes Away With 1-1 Tie at Holy Cross

October 07, 2015 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Army West Point men's soccer team played into double overtime for the fourth time this season before finishing in a 1-1 draw at Holy Cross in a Patriot League match on Wednesday evening at Linda Johnson Smith Soccer Stadium.

Army, which picks up its first point of season the in Patriot League play, moves to 2-4-3 overall and 0-1-1 in the league, while Holy Cross goes to 3-3-4 and 1-0-2.

Senior Cody Guerry put the Black Knights on the board in the 13th minute after Army took advantage of a Holy Cross miscue to go ahead 1-0. The Crusaders attempted a long back pass to goalkeeper Kevin Wright and Wright came out of his net to play the ball before the pass rolled out of play on the right sideline. Junior Nick Williams executed a quick throw-in to Guerry, whose initial shot was saved by a diving Wright before he followed up on the rebound to give the Black Knights the lead.

"We were alert to capitalize on a moment when Holy Cross was a little bit disorganized," said head coach Russell Payne. "I'm really proud we succeeded in the moment and put the ball in the back of the net."

Army won a free kick just outside Holy Cross' 18-yard box in the 16th minute and junior Tanner Vosvick sent a high shot on target, but the attempt was tipped over the crossbar by Wright to keep his team's deficit at one.

Army senior Chris Britt made his only stop of the first half on a shot from Yuji Callahan in the 19th minute. Britt finished the night with seven saves.

The Black Knights used quick counterattacks to create scoring opportunities in the opening frame, with the best transition attempt coming in the 27th minute, when Williams dribbled down the right side of the field at an angle before sending his shot wide of the right post.

Army's defense helped snuff out a number of Holy Cross chances in the first half, including senior defender Cameron Niccum, who blocked away a cross from the right side of the 18-yard box by Eric Dixon in the 41st minute.

"In the first half, I thought we were very disciplined in moments when we didn't have the ball," Payne said "We could have done a better job at keeping the ball after we dispossessed them, but even still, we were able to create chances."

Britt and the Army back line were tested early to start the second half, beginning with a shot by Holy Cross' Joey DeVivo that Britt saved from 18 yards out just 4:56 into the period. DeVivo was involved in another chance for the Crusaders in the 54th minute, when he passed to Matt Villano, who played the ball off his chest and sent a shot across the goal mouth and outside the right post.

Britt made a diving save to his right side on a free kick from Holy Cross' Arno Rupp in the 65th minute to keep the score 1-0 before the Black Knights quickly made their way to their attacking third and Williams sent a dangerous pass across the Holy Cross net and to sophomore Spencer Goldstein, who headed the ball just wide of the left post in the 66th minute.

Holy Cross found the equalizer in 74th minute, as DeVivo received a pass from Callahan and sent a shot from 20 yards out into the box that glanced off an Army defender and just inside the Black Knights' right post.

The Crusaders nearly scored the go-ahead goal in the 87th minute, but Britt used a quick reaction to make a leaping save and deflected the ball over the crossbar on a header by Nicholas Cestaro from eight yards out in the center of the box. Britt made another save on an attempt by Brad Ross just six seconds later to keep the game level at 1-1.

Britt punched away a Holy Cross corner kick from the right corner flag in the 96th minute of the first overtime period before an Army transition resulted in a high shot off the foot of Williams 13 ticks after the Crusaders' previous corner.

Army sophomore Shaban Abousaud appeared to find his way behind the Holy Cross defense, but the Crusaders made their way back into position and blocked Abousaud's shot from close range in the 98th minute before Wright corralled the loose ball to send the match to double overtime.

Britt made a save on a chance from Dixon in the 103rd minute on what was the only shot on target during the second overtime session.

"This was Chris' best performance of the year so far," Payne shared about his senior goalkeeper. "I'm really proud of the effort he put in to keep us in the game. You always need your goalkeeper to make at least one big save a game to keep you in it and he made two in the second half. But we have to reward strong goalkeeping with goals at the other end."

Army returns to Clinton Field to kick off a three-match homestand, beginning with a contest against Lehigh on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 2 p.m.

MATCH NOTES: The Army-Holy Cross series moves to 16-14-4, in favor of the Black Knights, after the teams played to a draw for the third time in a row … Wednesday's match marked the third straight contest between Army and Holy Cross to be played into double overtime, dating back to Holy Cross' penalty kick shootout victory over Army in the 2013 Patriot League semifinals … Britt's seven-save performance is one shy of his career high of eight stops that he made in the season opener at Air Force on Aug. 29.