Mercer University
High Point
Men's Soccer Battles to 2-2 Tie with High Point
9/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Box Score
HIGH POINT, N.C. – Mercer senior Ian Cameron scored in the 54th minute of play as the Bears battled to a 2-2 double overtime tie against High Point in the final game of the Flash Gordon Motors Invitational on Sunday afternoon at Vert Stadium.
Despite having the same record as High Point in the tournament, 1-0-1, Mercer took home the championship trophy for the event due to a 3-1 goal differential advantage over the Panthers.
High Point (3-1-1, 0-0-0 Big South) out-shot Mercer (2-1-1, 0-0-0 A-Sun) 18-12 and held a 12-2 edge in corner kicks.
Both sides wasted no time getting on the board, with each team scoring a goal in the opening nine minutes of the match.
High Point struck first in the fourth minute of play, when sophomore Shane Malcolm put home a cross past Mercer goalkeeper Brett Petricek to make the score 1-0 in favor of the home team. The goal was the first allowed by the Bears in 183:00 minutes of play and the first allowed individually by Petricek this season.
The Panthers lead was short lived, however, thanks to a timely response by the Orange and Black just minutes later. Freshman Joshua Ball fired in a shot from 15 yards out that beat High Point netminder Michael Chesler to knot the game up, at 1-1.
The home team retook the lead just before halftime when junior Karo Okiomah slipped behind Mercer's back line and put a shot past Petricek to give High Point a 2-1 advantage going into intermission.
The back-and-forth affair continued once the second half began with another tie score thanks to Cameron. The Glasgow, Scotland native made the score 2-2 when he wound up and struck a powerful shot from 18 yards out that beat Chesler for his second goal of the season.
Things were going the Orange and Black's way until the 74th minute of play when Petricek went down with an injury and forced redshirt sophomore Daniel VanValkinburgh into action.
From that point on the momentum seemed to shift towards the Panthers, but it was VanValkinburgh who steadied the Bears for the remainder of the game. The Chattanooga, Tenn. product put together the best outing of his two-year career, making four saves in 37 minutes of action to help Mercer earn a tie despite being out-shot 10-1 for the remainder of the game.
Mercer finally comes back home to take on in-state rival Georgia State on September 19 after concluding its season-opening four-game road trip tonight. Game time is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Bear Field.
