Saturday, August 18, 2007

In its first appearance on the pitch under new head coach Mike Avery, the Valparaiso men's soccer squad came away with a 1-1 (2ot) tie Friday night at Indianapolis in the exhibition opener.

The Crusaders and Greyhounds mutually agreed prior to the beginning of play to play two 15-minute extra sessions regardless of the outcome of the first 90 minutes, but the additional periods proved necessary, as the two squads fought to a scoreless tie through 90 minutes.

Valpo hit the board five minutes into the first extra period, as Eni Solomon found the back of the net off of a feed from Jon Obial.  The Crusaders appeared to take a 2-0 advantage midway through the second extra session, but the play was called back for being offsides.  Indianapolis punched a goal across late in the second overtime to force the draw.

The Crusaders played Friday's contest with just one day of training under their belts, as practice opened for Valpo on Thursday, and the entire squad got the chance to take the field.  Valpo will continue its exhibition season with a home match at Eastgate Field against Western Kentucky at 1 p.m. on Saturday, August 25.