ANNVILLE, Pa. – Recent Commonwealth Conference men’s soccer matches between Lebanon Valley and Elizabethtown have been closely-contested affairs and Wednesday evening’s tilt at Herbert Field was no exception. Elizabethtown scored in the 89th minute to send the game into overtime and the end result was a 1-1 tie.
Lebanon Valley (7-1-2, 2-0-1 Commonwealth), ranked eighth in the most recent NSCAA/Adidas Mid-Atlantic Division III Poll, halted Elizabethtown’s (6-1-3, 1-0-1 CC) three-game winning steak but saw its own five-match winning streak come to an end. The Blue Jays were ranked No. 6 in the same poll heading into the match.
In their previous three meetings, Elizabethtown defeated the Flying Dutchmen by one goal, including an overtime victory in 1999.
After a scoreless first half, Brian Sapienza (Manchester, Conn./Manchester) gave the Valley a 1-0 lead in the 61st minute. The sophomore forward took a pass from Matt Sourbeer (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) and slotted the ball from the left wing and into the bottom right corner of the net for his team-high seventh goal of the year. Sapienza’s tally was just the second allowed in over 600 minutes this season by Blue Jay keeper Michael Ciattei.
E-town out-shot LVC 10-1 in the second half and the Blue Jays finally broke through with just 1:29 left. Brad Confer slipped in a shot from point-blank range off an assist from Brian Albrecht to force an extra session. Although both teams were able to create scoring opportunities, neither side could capitalize down the stretch.
Junior Christian Koch (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) made a season-high 14 saves in goal for LVC. Ciattei came up with four stops for E-town.
The Flying Dutchmen return to conference play on Saturday when they travel to Moravian in a noon start.
Elizabethtown 0 1 0 0 - 1
Lebanon Valley 0 1 0 0 - 1
LV – Brian Sapienza (Matt Sourbeer), 60:21
E – Brad Confer (Brian Albrecht), 88:31
Shots: Elizabethtown 19. Lebanon Valley 9.
Saves: Widener (Ciattei) 4. Lebanon Valley (Koch) 14.
Corner Kicks: Elizabethtown 4. Lebanon Valley 4.
Team Records: Elizabethtown 6-1-3, 1-0-1 CC. Lebanon Valley 7-1-2, 2-0-1 CC.
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