Box Score 
MEDFORD – The Tufts University men's soccer team played to a 1-1 draw against the Bowdoin Polar Bears on Tuesday in their final regular-season game of the season.
Each of the teams' goals came at the end of the first half with Bowdoin scoring first in the 38th minute and Tufts answering in the 42nd minute to even the score at one. Sophomore Alan Casey scored for Bowdoin for his first career goal, while it was senior Calvin Aroh that put the ball in the back of the net for the Jumbos.
For a game played in cold and rainy conditions, there were plenty of scoring opportunities. The first chance of the game came in the sixth minute when Tufts' Sean Traynor (pictured) dribbled the ball and created a shot opportunity for himself, but sent it just wide of the goal. Bowdoin's first chance came in the 20th minute when senior forward Charlie Ward sent a shot on the ground from a distance and it was deflected by a sliding Tufts defender and eventually saved by Tufts goalie Erik Lauta. Tufts had more opportunities to score with a shot by Traynor that was saved by Bowdoin goalie Chris Kingston in the 25th minute and a header by Ian Daly that Kingston made a great save on.
The next chance for Bowdoin ended up as a goal as Casey sent a long left-footer past the goalie for his first career goal. Tufts did not take long to respond as just four minutes later sophomore Liam Gerken controlled the ball and sent a cross to Aroh who one-timed it for the goal with just under three minutes to go in the half to tie the game.
There were far less chances in the second half, but both teams had their opportunities to take the lead. Jumbo midfielder Travis Van Brewer had the first chance to score in the second half when he sent a hard shot from 20 yards out towards the goal in the 50th minute that was saved by Kingston. Lauta would go on to have a huge save for Tufts in the 59th minute when Bowdoin senior midfielder Minseo Bae sent a cross to Ward in front of the net that Ward one-timed, but Lauta stepped up and made the save. The Jumbos got the final two chances of the second half when Mikey Brady dribbed to the middle of the field in front of the net to create a shot opportunity and sent a shot while sliding on the wet grass that did not get enough power behind it and was saved by Kingston. The final opportunity of regulation came when Traynor had a hard shot towards the left side of the net that just barely missed wide.
The two overtime periods saw some of the game's best chances to score, including a rocket of a shot by Bowdoin's Kai DiGrande that flew just wide left of the goal in the sixth minute of overtime. Max Jacobs had a chance extremely close to the goal for Tufts just 50 seconds later, but Kingston once again stepped up and got in the way of the shot before the ball was cleared. Lauta had a game-saving save with just over two minutes left in the first overtime when he dove to stop a hard shot from Bowdoin's Temi Agunloye. Bowdoin collected the rebound and sent a another soft shot quickly towards the goal, but Lauta saved that one as well to send the game into a second overtime period.
Tufts had the best chance to end it in the second overtime period as Jacobs tried to chip a shot over the goalie as Kingston found himself far out of the goal, but Kingston barely got a hand on the chip shot and deflected the ball away. Tufts ended up collecting the rebound for another great chance, but the shot sailed high. Bowdoin's Drake Byrd had a free kick chance near the Tufts box with four minutes left in the period and that was saved by Lauta as the game would finish in a 1-1 draw.
Tufts finished with a total of 25 shots compared to Bowdoin's 11. Tufts also led in corner kicks, finishing with nine while Bowdoin did not have a corner kick opportunity throughout the game. Kingston made 11 saves and Lauta finished with three.
The draw brings the Jumbos to a 10-1-3 regular-season record with a NESCAC record of 6-1-3. The Polar Bears finish the regular season with a 9-4-2 record and a NESCAC record of 4-4-2.
Tufts and Bowdoin will now prepare for the NESCAC Tournament as they await their official seeds.
Written by Tim O'Brien, Athletic Communications Intern
