Men’s Soccer Plays to Scoreless Overtime Tie

The Ramapo College men’s soccer team hosted the Drew University Rangers in a non conference game on Wednesday.

Neither team was able to capitalize on their opportunities in regulation. The teams played two 10 minute overtime periods, but after 110 minutes of play, the game was declared a draw.

Roadrunners head coach DJ Pinton said that the team’s inability to finish on opportunities in the game was frustrating.

“We were creating opportunities, we just need to finish when scoring opportunities are presented,” he said. “Our record could be way better than it shows.”

The Roadrunners nearly saw the game end in defeat as Drew senior Ricardo Castro missed the net on a shot with just over a minute left in the second overtime.

Wednesday marks the second time this year that a game ended in a tie for the Roadrunners. The first came during the summer when the Roadrunners tied Rhode Island College 3-3 at the President’s Cup, which was hosted at Ramapo College. 

Ramapo goalkeeper and sophomore Brian Petrunik played the entirety of the game, making six saves, including one halfway through the first overtime on Drew junior Tommy Tolve to keep the game alive.

Petrunik also played Ramapo’s last game, a 1-0 double overtime victory over Kean University on Oct. 5. He currently has a shutout streak over two hours long.

“He has played very well,” Pinton said of Petrunik. “He has been consistent, and has made a couple of good saves to keep us in games.”

The Roadrunner’s offense was lead by senior Dave Przybylo, who had five shots in the game, forcing Drew goalkeeper, junior Michael Reyes, to make two quality saves.

Przybylo had two chances to end the game late in the first overtime. His first shot missed wide, and his second was stopped by Reyes just seconds later.

“We need to be more creative in the final third to give us a better chance in overtime,” coach Pinton said. “We had good energy. This is our seventh overtime game this year, which is two off from an NCAA record. It’s a familiar place for us,” he said.

Though the Roadrunners had their chances in overtime, they were held to only two shots on goal during regulation, both coming in the first half.

Drew totaled six shots on goal, and had another six miss the net. Neither team was able to get a shot on goal during the second overtime.

Ramapo now holds a 5-5-2 overall record, with both ties coming in non conference play. The Roadrunners are 2-3 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference.

This was also Drew’s second tie of the season. They now have an overall record of 7-3-2, while going 0-1-1 in the Landmark Conference.

Drew’s other tie came in a 1-1 game against the Catholic University of America Cardinals on Sept. 28. The Rangers will play again on Saturday in a Landmark Conference matchup against the Moravian College Greyhounds.

The Roadrunner’s next game will be another non conference match against the Sarah Lawrence College Gryphons. Sarah Lawrence plays in the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and is currently 3-2 in conference and 3-6 overall.

The men’s soccer team will host Rowan University on Oct. 16 and visit Richard Stockton College on Oct. 19 for two NJAC matchups.

Rowan currently sits at the bottom of the NJAC at 0-4, while Richard Stockton is undefeated at 5-0 atop the conference.

mmontal1@ramapo.edu