MERCED, Calif. - The University of California, Merced men's soccer team scored a pair of goals in their 2019 home opener but finished in a 2-2 draw after 110 minutes of action Thursday night at Bobcat Field.
The draw was the second straight for the Bobcats (0-1-2), who were playing in front of a UC Merced capacity crowd for the first time since being crowned 2018 California Pacific Conference regular-season champions.
After roughly 11 minutes without a clean look at the net from either side, Andres Lua opened the action with the game's first goal. In the 12th minute, Francisco Lopez received a throw-in and tapped it to Marcos Ceballos, who sent it right to the charging Lua in the center of the 18 and he powered one to the right of the keeper to go up 1-0.
Lua's goal was the fifth of his career and his third goal in the last six games dating back to last season. The 2018 Merced Sun-Star Player of the Year came into the match leading the Bobcats with ten total shots.
UC Merced and Oregon Tech each notched a corner kick within the next five minutes but both defenses were up to the par and neither team managed to get a shot out of it.
In the 19th minute, the Owls Brennan Gazdik evened the score with a header. The header was off a set piece that defender Kyle Wright set up on the opposite side of the centerline.
Oregon Tech's second goal was also off a set piece as the junior Keanu Srivongsana blasted one into the upper right corner of the net.
Following the opponents go-ahead goal, Lua got another shot off but it was blocked by a defender. The Le Grand, Calif., native would go on to finish with a game-high six shots for the second straight match.
At the break, each team had recorded four shots each.
Immediately after the first touch of the second half, UC Merced charged down the field looking to draw even before being whistled offsides. The aggressiveness the Bobcats showed at that moment remained throughout the rest of the game and Francisco Lopez started a flurry of shots that kept the strong home contingent entertained. Ceballos nearly snuck two shots past the Owls keeper in the 51st minute.
Ceballos' second shot resulted in a corner kick, and seconds after, a goal.
Rosas finished off the corner with his first goal of 2019, coming in the 52nd minute to tie the game at two. Coronado, who took the corner, as well as Nicholas Sabbatini, who found a way to get the first touch on the ball before heading it to Rosas earned an assist.
Rosas' goal marked the ninth of his career, putting him ninth on the program's Top 10 goals list.
UC Merced managed to get off six shots compared to the Owls two the remainder of regulation. Of the six Bobcat shots, Sabbatini's was the closest to finding the back of the net but the goalkeeper got just enough of a touch on it and it deflected over the goal for a UC Merced corner.
Coronado got off a shot as time expired that was wide.
Four and a half minutes into the first overtime period, Oregon Tech took down a Bobcat near the penalty box that resulted in a free kick. Rosas took the free kick going for the golden goal but Owls keeper Mitchell Jillson made a diving fist save to extend the match.
Lorenti took a corner right after and a Lua shot sailed high. Lua's shot was the final shot of the first overtime period.
In the second overtime, reigning Cal Pac Defensive Player of the Week Brycen Miller was tested within the first 60 seconds. With a group of Owls near the goal, Miller was in a tough spot but stopped a Daniel Blessinger shot to save the game.
That was Miller's only shot he was tasked with stopping in his 65 minutes between the posts. Marco Sobrevilla was the Bobcats starting goalkeeper, his second start of 2019.
M. Ceballos, Agustin Guerrero and Omar Centeno took an attempt at the golden goal down the stretch but all three shots were saved or wide.
Overall, UC Merced outshot Oregon Tech 20-9, 7-3 on goal. Head coach Albert Martins' team also won the corner kick battle 8-2. M. Ceballos each had two shots on target.
Up next, the Bobcats travel to Southern Oregon University for a match with the 13th ranked Raiders at 1:00pm on Sunday, September 1.
