STANDISH, Maine – Freshman midfielder Damir Brkic (South Portland, Maine) scored twice as Saint Joseph's College (1-2-2, 0-0-1 GNAC) played Rivier University (1-2-2, 0-0-1 GNAC) to a 2-2 draw in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference opener at the Saint Joseph's Athletics Complex on Saturday afternoon.
The Monks carried a two-goal advantage into the final two minutes, but the Raiders scored at 88:16 and again with four seconds remaining to salvage the tie.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Brkic opened the scoring at the 33:52 mark, converting a penalty kick after Rivier goalkeeper AJ Deyarmin was assessed a foul and yellow card.
Senior goalkeeper Alex Bachmann (Scarborough, Maine) made six saves during the opening half to help Saint Joseph's carry the 1-0 lead into intermission.
The Monks doubled their advantage in the 81st minute when junior forward Nick Marion (Windham, Maine) set up Brkic with a perfect cross in the box for his second goal of the afternoon and third of the season.
Rivier's late rally ended a remarkable stretch of dominance for the Monks in the series. The Raiders entered the afternoon having lost 17 consecutive meetings against Saint Joseph's and had been outscored by a 44-0 margin over the previous 12 matchups. Rivier had not defeated SJC since 2007 or scored against the Monks since 2012.
That scoreless streak ended in the 89th minute when Matthew Ferreira fed a short pass inside the box to Alejandro Quezada, who cut the deficit to 2-1 with a blast to the top right corner. With time nearly expired, Jalen Williams launched a last-ditch pass from right to left toward the far post, where Luiggi Ferreira finished the tying goal with four seconds remaining in regulation.
TEAM STATS:
Rivier held advantages in shots (21-11), shots on goal (11-7), and corner kicks (7-2). The Raiders were called for 12 fouls, while the Monks committed 14. Seven yellow cards were issued in the match.
THE KEEPERS:
Bachmann registered nine saves for Saint Joseph's while Deyarmin stopped five shots for Rivier.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the draw, Saint Joseph's moves to 17-2-2 in the all-time series against Rivier. The result ended the Monks' 17-game winning streak against the Raiders and marked the first tie between the programs since their inaugural meeting in 1999.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's travels to Boston for a conference match-up against Emmanuel College at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, September 15.
