Men’s Soccer Opens Year with 2-2 Draw at Gordon

Wenham, Mass. – The Framingham State University men's soccer team opened the 2012 season this afternoon with a hard fought 2-2 double overtime time draw at non-conference foe Gordon College. 

This marks the second straight season opening double overtime tie for the Rams against the Fighting Scots as the two teams battled to a 1-1 stalemate in Framingham to open the 2011 campaign.

The Rams fell behind early when the Fighting Scots grabbed a 1-0 just 8:45 into the game on an own goal as the ball deflected into the back of the net off a Ram.

Just over 14 minutes later, the Rams knotted the score at 1-1.  Sophomore Bryan DaSilva (Milford, Mass.) converted a penalty kick at 22:05 for his first marker of the season.

The game would remain tied with the two teams heading into the half tied at 1-1 as the Fighting Scots outshot the Rams 12-2 in the opening stanza.  Senior goal keeper Sam Yoder (Southbridge, Mass.) made six of his 15 saves in the first half.

The Rams grabbed the lead in the 55^th minute when junior Romulo Carvalho (Milford, Mass.) fed senior Jepherson Cardoso (Framingham, Mass.) and Cardoso connected for his first of the season.

The Rams would maintain the one goal advantage until the 84^th minute when Andrew Vanderwoort scored off an assist from Chris Carlson to tie the score.

The Fighting Scots outshot the Rams 10-4 in the second half and held a 26-9 advantage for the game including a 4-3 edge in the two overtimes.  Yoder made three saves in the two overtime periods to preserve the tie.

The Rams play their home opener on Tuesday afternoon at 1 p.m. when they host the Engineers of MIT.