CHICAGO, Ill. –
Woodlens Frederic (
Fr.-Green Bay, Wis.) scored a pair of goals in the final 11 minutes, including the tying goal with 84 seconds left in the match as the Lakeland University men's soccer team rallied back for a hard-earned 3-3 tie with Illinois Tech Wednesday night.
The Muskies missed a chance at their fifth straight win but extended their unbeaten string in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference to six straight matches, moving to 4-0-2 in that stretch. Lakeland is now 10-2-2 overall and 4-1-2 in conference, and with the one point dropped a point behind Aurora University and its 5-2 mark in the NACC standings.
The Muskies trailed 3-1 with just over 15 minutes left in the match but turned up the pressure the rest of the way. Lakeland drew within a goal with 10:50 left in the game when
Austin Eigenberger-Vahsholtz (
Jr.-Grafton, Wis.) served in a free kick from the left just outside the 18-yard box that got over Tech goalkeeper David Rodriguez and went right to Frederic, who headed it in to make it a 3-2 game.
The Muskies then generated another rush with just over two minutes left, with
Isai Gil (
Jr.-Beaumont, Calif.) turning and firing a shot from 15 yards out that hit the crossbar.
Jordan Davis-Troller (
Sr.-Cottage Grove, Wis.) headed in a rebound that was kept out of the goal by a Scarlet Hawks defender, keeping the 3-2 lead, but Lakeland wasn't done.
Andrew DeJaynes (
Jr.-Springfield, Ill.) sent another ball in that was deflected away but won by Eigenberger-Vahsholtz near the end line. The Lakeland midfielder then crossed a pass in front of the goal towards Davis-Troller, and the ball rattled around before deflecting to Frederic on the back doorstep, who scored in the open backside of the net to tie the game.
The Muskies even had a chance to win the game in the very last seconds.
Victor Aguirre (
So.-Sheboygan Falls, Wis.) received the ball at the top of the 18 with two seconds left with his back to the goal and hit a solid shot backwards over his head that was saved by Illinois Tech goalkeeper David Rodriguez as time expired.
The Muskies never led in the match and were tied 1-1 at halftime, after Aguirre followed up an early Scarlet Hawks goal with his third goal of the season in the 16th minute. Lakeland fell behind 2-1 after a goal by Illinois Tech's Junior Pineda-Alcala in the 58th minute, and then appeared in serious trouble in the 75th minute when Darli Kishchak extended the hosts' lead to a 3-1 advantage.
Frederic's two goals give him five goals on the season, and Eigenberger-Vahsholtz recorded his seventh assist of the season. Both Eigenberger-Vahsholtz and Gil have now tied Lakeland's single-season record for assists in a season, joining Michael Heinen and Kyle Nothem (both in 1997) with seven assists in a season.
Ali Faiad (
Fr.-Alexandria, Egypt) made seven saves in goal for the Muskies. Davis-Troller and Gil both had four shot attempts each as Lakeland rallied to a 16-16 tie in shot attempts in the game by outshooting Illinois Tech 11-8 in the second half.
Rodriguez made three saves for Illinois Tech, which is now 6-4-2 overall and 3-2-2 in the NACC.
The Muskies face another tough conference challenge on the road on Saturday when they take on Rockford University at 3:30 p.m. in Rockford, Ill.
