BANGOR, Maine – Husson University freshman Ali Essallamy (Fez, Morocco) put home a penalty kick in the 62nd minute of play to even the score at 1-all and neither team was able to find the back of the net through the remainder of regulation and both overtimes as the Eagles and Wentworth played to a season-opening tie at Boucher Field.
While the early stages of the game saw very few scoring chances, the hosts had a pair of corner kicks in a span of 37 seconds but could not generate offense off of them. Wentworth had a pair of chances in the 21st and 25th minutes as the Leopards took a corner kick in the former and junior Griffin Price (Allendale, N.J.) saw his bid go high in the latter.
The Leopards broke the ice at the 30:53 mark when sophomore Nathan Gosselin (Hudson, N.H.) sent a pass across the box to senior Noah Martins (Dartmouth, Mass.). Martins snuck the ball just inside the left post, giving the Leopards a 1-0 lead.
A hard foul just outside the box in the 41st minute gave Wentworth a scoring chance and an advantage as the foul warranted a red card, forcing Husson to play down a player for the remainder of the game. Off the restart, freshman Alex Moore's (Salem, Conn.) bid went just over the crossbar. Junior Philip Chomicki (Dorchester, Mass.) made his second save of the first half late, off a shot from sophomore Nathan Firlings (Woodbury, Conn.).
A foul inside the box led to the penalty kick from Essallamy, who knotted the score with 28:10 remaining. Wentworth had a chance in the 75th minute, however, an Eagle defender came up with a key block of a Price shot. Price also had a pair of shots on goal 36 seconds apart, however, Husson junior Kyle Townsend (Hampden, Maine) made two saves to keep the game tied.
Overtime saw Wentworth with a 6-2 shot advantage, however, the Eagles nearly scored at the 101:18 mark when freshman Avery Pomerleau's (Monmouth, Maine) bid to the top corner was denied by Chomicki. With just over four minutes left in the second overtime, junior Drew DeCoste (Somerset, Mass.) flicked a header towards the net but was saved by Townsend. DeCoste also sent a shot just wide with 1:07 left.
Chomicki made five saves for Wentworth while Townsend stopped six shots for Husson. Wentworth had a 20-11 shot advantage for the contest and an 8-5 advantage on corner kicks.
Wentworth is at Maine Farmington on Saturday with kick-off scheduled for Noon.
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