NEWBERG, Ore -- The George Fox men's soccer team went up against the Willamette Bearcats in a competitive and chippy contest that ended with a 1-1 tie. 

How It Happened
The first half began with both teams battling it out with their defense, but it didn't take long for George Fox to start chipping away on the offensive side of things. Ten minutes in, Isaac Williams went in for a shot which just missed high, and Raiden Renggli followed closely behind with a shot that also missed high. Willamette took the ball for their own looking to score, but missed. 

The Bearcats got the ball back and once again tried to score, but goalkeeper Chase Nelson was there to put an end to that idea. 28 minutes in, Alec Buongervino went in for a shot which was unfortunately blocked, but it didn't take long for another Buongervino attempt on goal. While the Bearcats were able to save that attempt, they didn't expect Carson Tapia to come in for a high left shot to score a goal for the Bruins, 1-0. The rest of the half was spent with more shot attempts on each side, but Willamette couldn't get past GFU's defense to get on the board, 1-0. 

Willamette came out of the halftime break wanting to score a goal for themselves. The Bearcats were the first to shoot, but Nelson was there once again for a save. Both teams went back and forth, with a shot from Eugene Peltier nearly going in as Fox continued to create opportunities. 

The game, which had slowed ramped up in intensity, reached its boiling point in the 58th minute; a hard tackle from Willamette's Dylan Rosie resulted in a straight red card. Despite being down to just 10 players, the battle started up again quickly as the Bruins continued attacking the goal with shots that didn't fall from Wilson Fresh, Peltier, Williams, and Tapia. Willamette saw an opening after throwing the ball in and moved the ball up, using a long pass and a well timed header from Ky Iliev to score a man-down goal and tie the game up, 1-1, in the 84th. With just six minutes left on the clock, the time wound down, as the Bruins opened up their conference season with a 1-1 tie.

Top Performers
Freshman Carson Tapia scored the only goal for the Bruins, while also leading the team in shots with four. Eugene Peltier and Issac Williams had three shots each, and two of Peltier's shots were shots on goals. Goalkeeper Chase Nelson had a total of four saves. 

Coach's Thoughts
"Tonight we found ourselves and played very well," Bruin head coach Paul Karver said, "Unfortunately we didn't capitalize on the things we needed to capitalize on and in the end it cost us. Willamette was fantastic and put a ton of pressure on us with both sides of the ball. We have to do a better job of managing the final moments of games to win in the Northwest Conference."

What It Means
George Fox is now 2-1-2 overall (0-0-1 NWC) as they continue with their season. Willamette is 0-3-2 overall (0-0-1 NWC).

What Happens Next
George Fox will play next on Sunday, September 14 at 2:45 pm in a game at Pacific against the Boxers.