Williamsburg, KY – In a close-nit contest, two late goals from Gerard Liao helped the UC Patriots record a 2-2 draw against the Running Eagles of Life University. The first half saw both teams evenly matched, with the Running Eagles out shooting the Patriots five to four. In the second half, Cumberlands outshot Life 14 to eight and secured the draw behind the brace of Liao.
Collectively, UC tallied 18 shots with six being on frame. Liao led the way with two goals, two shots and two being on frame. Mario Fernandez Garcia follows with five shots, two being on frame while Rodrigo Riveros and Shuma Sasaki tallied three shots with one shot on frame.
In the first half, the Running Eagles recorded the first shot of the game in the third minute of play. With both teams evenly matched, the Patriots retaliated with a shot on goal from Fernandez Garcia in the 15'.
In the 25th minute, the Pats had a prime opportunity seeing a shot that was just wide from Adrian Choco followed by a blocked shot from Salvador Martinez to leave the game scoreless.
Back-to-back saves from Javiero Izquierdo Cuervo in the final minutes of the first half sent UC into the half, tied 0-0 with the Running Eagles.
Both teams sparked the second half aggressively, seeing the Running Eagles land on the offensive side of the pitch. Life scored their first goal of the day in the 60' to take a 1-0 advantage over the Pats. Shortly after, a pair of substitutions from UC resulted in three shots, two from Fernadez Garcia and one from Bruno Marques. However, Cumberlands continued to trail Life 1-0.
In the 79th minute of play, the Running Eagles scored their second and final goal of the evening to take a 2-0 lead over the Pats. UC quickly responded with a header and shot on frame from Riveros.
In the 81', and less than 10 minutes of play remaining, a corner kick for the Patriots was taken by Emil Skursch and was perfectly placed for Gerard Liao to head the ball into the back corner of the net.
Trailing 2-1 and with time dwindling down, UC acted quickly. In the 86', a trio of shots from the Patriots were blocked or saved until Liao recorded the brace off the assist from Skursch once again, seeing UC tie the Running Eagles 2-2.
In the final minutes, a shot from Tjerk Meijs was blocked to end the contest, but not before the Pats were able to even the score at 2-2.
Cumberlands will be back in action next Saturday, September 14 on the road to Lawrenceville, GA. The Pats will face Georgia Gwinnett College with a kickoff time of 7:00 p.m. (EST).
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