CINCINNATI – The Northern Kentucky University men's soccer team came back late in the second half to force a 1-1 draw against the Cincinnati Bearcats. Caleb Eastham scored in his third straight game for the Norse to get NKU the result.
As the game began, the Norse were struggling to maintain possession and the Bearcats spent the opening fifteen minutes of the game in the Norse defensive half. Though the Bearcats dominated the early possession, it was NKU senior captain Nicholas Chiarot that had the first chance on goal for either side. He received the ball just outside of the box and sent the ball towards the goal in the 15th-minute. He didn't get enough power behind the shot and it was easily collected by the Bearcats' keeper Alex Gill.
The Bearcats continued on the attack. Bearcat forward Brad Miguel dribbled in on the Norse defense and was able to get by NKU defender Alex Weber. Ian O'Reilly came to the rescue to challenge Miguel but he was called for a foul just outside the box in the 22nd-minute The Bearcats' Ashani Walker stepped up to take the free kick from 19-yards out and he curled in a ball that deflected off the near-post and into the goal. NKU goalkeeper A.J. Fleak looked on helplessly as there was nothing that could have been done to stop such a well-taken free kick.
Moments later, Brendan Murphy took a corner kick for the Norse that connected with the head of O'Reilly. He was able to get some power behind the header but the ball was driven directly into the hands of the Bearcat keeper. Cincinnati would hold onto the 1-0 lead in the 33rd-minute and take it to halftime.
The second half opened up and the Norse looked like a different team offensively. Yaw Addai played a ball in to Setho Moshoeshoe in front of the Bearcat goal. Moshoeshoe had a quick one-on-one with the keeper but was unable to beat him as Gill saved the shot in the 53rd-minute.
The Norse would put together some possession and begin to turn it in to chances. Noah Johnson, who made his first career appearance for the Norse, sent a long ball in to Nick McGregor in the attacking half. McGregor dribbled the ball out towards midfield and sent a ball into the box that met the head of Caleb Eastham. Eastham's header went over the head of the keeper, who was caught off his line, and fell into the goal for the equalizer. He was credited with his fourth goal of the season and third in three games.
In the 82nd-mintue it looked like Eastham would be the hero for the Norse when his head connected with the free kick from Alex Weber. He won the ball in the box but the header went just wide as the Norse bench sighed, as the ball appeared to be headed in the goal. The full-time whistled sounded and the Norse were headed for overtime for the fourth time in six games this season.
Fleak was called to action early in the second overtime, having to save two shots sent his way off of Bearcat corner kicks. Eastham and Gavin Colton would each get chances on goal in the first overtime but they failed to trouble the Bearcat keeper with anything.
The second overtime saw two late chances for the Norse to take home a victory. O'Reilly headed the ball goal-ward off of an NKU free kick but Gill came to the Bearcats' rescue. In the final seconds, the Norse played a long ball in to Murphy that was just a little too far out of his reach. It resulted in a Norse corner that was taken as the clock expired.
The Norse moved to 2-2-2 on the season and are preparing for two more road games this coming weekend against Wright State and Marshall. For live stats on the games go to nkunorse.com and follow @NKUNorse on Twitter for game updates as well as all other news concerning NKU athletics.
