Bowling Green State University Athletics
Exciting Match Ends in Draw, 2-2
October 26, 2003 | Men's Soccer
Oct. 26, 2003
Bowling Green, Ohio - Several post shots and near misses, along with a combined six saves in overtime by both goalkeepers, ended in a 2-2 draw between visiting Western Michigan and host Bowling Green on a breezy, cool Sunday afternoon at Mickey Cochrane Field.
It was exciting from the first goal on. With the game clock ticking down to end the first half, BGSU's Adrian Akpan had a thrown in with about 12 seconds remaining. Senior Eric Duda headed the ball in the box towards the goal and fellow senior Paul Dhaliwal got enough on the ball to get it to the back of the net with just six seconds showing on the clock. It was Dhaliwal's third goal of the season and gave BGSU a 1-0 lead.
Then it was WMU's turn as they knotted the game up at 1-1 just 2:10 into the second half with a goal by Travis Waters. The Broncos took the lead a few minutes later when Jeff Hughes scored at 59:34.
But, BGSU answered with a goal from freshman Dustin Snyder, his fourth of the season, at 67:07 to tie the game at 2-2. Bobby Woods and Dhaliwal assisted on the goal.
From there it was nonstick action despite the fact that there were no goals scored. BGSU's David DeGraff had a game-high nine saves, including three in the first overtime period at point-blank range. He also had four in the first half and one in the second overtime period. The nine saves by DeGraff put him over the century mark for the season with 104 saves, the first time he has accomplished that feat in his illustrious career. His previous season-high was 87 saves last year and he now has 353 saves for his career.
WMU's Brent Miller had seven stops in the game, including two in overtime. WMU held a 23-14 shot advantge in the game while BGSU had eight corner kicks to the Broncos' seven.
WMU ends its regular season at 10-6-1 overall and 3-2-1 in the Mid-American Conference, while BGSU is now 6-7-4 overall and 2-3-1 in the MAC. BGSU has two non-conference games remaining on its schedule, including a trip to Michigan State next Friday, Oct. 31 (3 p.m.) and a visit by Detroit-Mercy next Sunday, Nov. 2 (2 p.m.). The Nov. 2 match will be senior day at Mickey Cochrane Field.
