Tonight's rivalry match between the Bruins and Eagles ended in a 1-1 draw after intense back-and-forth play from both teams throughout the whole 90 minutes.
"I think we did enough to win the game," Head Coach Greg Fulton said. "Ultimately, what I love about tonight's match was that it was a classic BJU/PCC match so that when we meet again, the guys will have a chip on their shoulder knowing they let one go tonight, and I would rather have that than going in too comfortable."
The intensity of the match began at kickoff. Both teams had huge chances to score early. Pensacola had two corner kicks in the first 12 minutes of the match and the Bruins four shots in that time. The first piece of utter chaos in Alumni Stadium was the handball called against the Bruins in the 26th minute. That gave Pensacola a chance to break the 0-0 draw with a penalty kick, but Bruins goalkeeper Luke Provenzano had different plans. After a couple stutters by the taker to try and throw off Provenzano's timing, Provenzano stood his ground, dove the right way and blocked it. The stadium erupted and that gave the Bruins the majority of momentum the rest of the half. The big opportunity for the Bruins came in the 37th minute when a rocket shot by Jackson Reinhard hit the post. Though both teams had golden opportunities, the halftime score was 0-0.
Neither team slowed down in the second half. The Bruins and Eagles possessed, took shots, and fouled. Finally, in the 65th minute, the 0-0 draw was broken and Alumni Stadium was sent into a frenzy. Freshman midfielder Bobby Gregory scored his first career goal to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. The Eagles kept pushing but they couldn't seem to be able to get the ball past Provenzano. Despite his six saves in the second half, the Eagles were finally able to get one in the net. In the 72nd minute, an Eagles header tied it 1-1. The intensity was raised again for the final 15 minutes of the match. In the 78th minute, the Eagles fouled Reid Burgin, and the aftermath of the foul ended with a red card shown to Burgin on what the referee explained to look like intentional retaliation. So for the final 12 minutes of the match, the Bruins played a man down. The Bruins stayed calm and didn't let the Eagles take advantage. In fact, the Bruins even created chances themselves, but came up empty. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, and everyone took a breath.
The Bruins now have a 2-0-1 conference record and a 5-4-2 record overall heading into next week. They are back at Alumni Stadium on Tuesday, October 13 as they host Tusculum University for a 7:00 p.m. match.
