Knights draw against #21 Tennessee Wesleyan Bulldogs 1-1
After starting out red hot in conference play on the season, the Knights would face their most daunting task of the early season as the Bulldogs of Tennessee Wesleyan came to Laurinburg, NC sporting the #21 nationally ranked spot in the NAIA. A close battle down the stretch, the Knights and Bulldogs each walked away with a point and a tie on the day.
Throughout the first ten minutes of the contest, the teams played at a slower pace, each side showing the respect of their opponent and not wanting to make a misstep at any juncture. Tennessee Wesleyan's Gavin Morgan was shown a yellow card early on in the match for clipping the feet of left winger Juan Alvarez-Acosta (Medellin, Colombia). Alvarez-Acosta would be the one to open up the shooting for the Knights, as his attempt in the 10th minute was blocked by a Bulldog defender.
After a couple attempts on eithe side and some quality half chances from both teams, Pablo Diezhandino (Tenerife, Spain) opened his account on the season by scoring a rocket of a shot that bended and swerved around the Tennessee goalkeeper. Tobias Crosariol (Milan, Italy) was credited with the assist after some great build-up play on the left flank with Martin Perez (Medellin, Colombia) and Alvarez-Acosta.
Starting keeper Ewen McCormick (Pembrokeshire, Wales) was called into action for the first time when Bulldog attacker Jonah Lewis got on the end of a cross with his head, which fortunately McCormick was able to handle.
Going into the half up 1-0 against a nationally ranked opponent meant the Knights were in a great position for the match, however they knew that it would be a battle for the next 45 minutes.
The Bulldogs truly showed their class and composure as 10 minutes into the half, the pressure was felt from the Knights as Tennessee Wesleyan earned a number of corners and were enjoying playing a lot more in the Knights half.
In the 56th minute, Billy Boag's corner kick found the head of Gavin Morgan who slotted it home to level the game at one apiece. Far from over, if anything the goal turned the heat up a notch on the game and the amount of chances created by both sides had gone up.
The Knights had a great chance in the 84th minute when Flavio Nardecchia (Viterbo, Italy) had a great look at goal but couldn't keep the shot down. The Knights will be able to hold there heads high after taking a ranked team all the way the distance in the 1-1 tie.
The Knights are back in action on September 21st at 6:00 PM when they travel to Bluefield, VA to take on the Rams of the Appalachian Athletic Conference.