Sparkill, NY  |  The College of Staten Island Men's Soccer team played the second of consecutive road games this afternoon and earned a 1-1 draw in a battle with the Spartans of St. Thomas Aquinas.  The Dolphins fell behind in the first half following a mishandling of the ball by goalkeeper Jake Foeldes which led to a goal, but were able to draw even late on a Philip Lefkowitz equalizer in the final minutes of the second half.  After two scoreless overtime periods, the match ended in a draw that will see the Dolphins return home in nine days with a record of 1-3-1 while the Spartans will begin conference play on Saturday with a record of 0-3-1.

Both the Dolphins and Spartans had opportunities throughout the first half, but it was an early twelfth minute CSI miscue that resulted in the first goal of the game.  Goalkeeper Jake Foeldes received a pass and was caught dribbling the ball without an available outlet pass.  He was quickly swarmed by a pair of Spartans, one being Sung Min Cho, who took the ball from Foeldes and easily scored on the empty net.

Following the early Spartans goal, the Dolphins were able to generate several opportunities of their own to the tune of six shots in the first half.  The first of these was an attempt by Breny Salas which hit the post followed by another Bryant Navarro attempt which was saved.  The Dolphins would go on to put four shots on goal in the first half keeping Spartans goalkeeper Cameron Turner busy during the opening frame.

The Spartans took a 1-0 lead into the second half and looked to add to it following an early corner kick.  However, the corner quickly turned into an opportunity for the Dolphins heading in the other direction which resulted in a shot by Lefkowitz that was once again saved by Turner.  From here, the game took an increasingly physical turn as Lefkowitz picked up a yellow card for CSI with a yellow card issued to Marlon Rowe of the Spartans only minutes later. 

With the physical play continuing throughout the remainder of the game, the two teams would ultimately combine for 25 fouls and another three yellow cards the rest of the way.  Despite the numerous whistles, it would be the Dolphins who finally broke a scoreless stretch that spanned nearly 70 minutes to get even.  Following a shot by Jahmali Peterson, Lefkowitz came charging into the box and buried the rebound into the back of the net.  Now tied 1-1, CSI would register three more shots on goal in the final 8 minutes of the game, but Turner was able to fend off the CSI attack and send the game to overtime.

After a hectic finish to regulation, neither team tallied a shot in the first overtime.  Come the second extra period, the Spartans had two early shot opportunities, one that sailed high and another that sailed wide.  These were not the last chances for either side as the Spartans would attempt a third shot in the second overtime, this one on goal.  Similarly, CSI would add another shot of their own in the final two minutes, but Turner made the save to keep things knotted up at 1-1 one last time.

Though 110 minutes weren't enough to decide a winner, there was no shortage of scoring chances for the two sides as they combined for 27 shots.  With the increased physicality of the game that came with the start of the second half, the two teams would go on to commit a total of 35 fouls, 18 by the Dolphins and 17 by the Spartans.  In goal, Turner saved 10 of the 11 shots that he faced for the Spartans.  Outside of the one costly miscue, Foeldes was strong in between the pipes for the Dolphins ending the game with six saves.  For CSI, it was a team-leading second goal of the season from Lefkowtiz that forced overtime and helped lessen the sting of the early mistake that put his team behind.

Next up for the Dolphins is a stretch of five consecutive games against CUNYAC opponents, the first being Medgar Evers at the CSI Soccer Complex next Wednesday.  Kickoff is scheduled for 2:00.