The College of Staten Island men’s soccer team tied SUNY-Canton, 1-1, in a physical battle which garnered five yellows and two red cards as part of non-conference play at the CSI Soccer Complex.  With the tie, the Dolphins move to 6-7-1 overall while the Kangaroos go to 6-3-1 overall.  The match up was the first in school history between the two sides.

Both squads played a very competitive first half, as there was no domination by either team.  CSI looked good when they possessed the ball, moving in sync as they were finding open players but the tea, was unable to convert their shots.  Peter Hanna had a nice look from outside the 18 yard box early on which would sail high for a goal kick, and it seemed to dictate the way CSI’s half was going.

Twenty-five minutes into the game, the Kangaroos would find a crack in the Dolphins’ defense as a shot was blocked and spun towards an on running Nick Escalante who was able to knock home a left footed strike to put SUNY-Canton up, 1-0.  The Dolphins would not give up as just four minutes later Horatio Reid found Dardan Nika with a through ball in which Nika was able to toe poke under the keeper to tie the game up at one.  For Nika, it was the freshman’s first career goal at CSI.

Hunter Mowery would receive the game’s first yellow yard just before the half which would foreshadow the rest of the game.  At the half the game was tied 1-1 and Canton had the advantage on shots with 6-5.  The foul count for the first half was 8 for Canton and 9 for the Dolphins.

In a controversial second half there were three yellows given out and a straight red with the red being given to the Dolphins’ assistant coach for trying to protect his player after a vicious tackle on Alfonso Castaneda where he was taken out by the last defender preventing a scoring opportunity.  Each team had their fair share of opportunities to score however the defenses were doing their job well as they intercepted and blocked any potential shot on target.

The first overtime went much like the second half, each team wanting to win at all costs and as a result another yellow card was issued to Canton for a dirty tackle.

The second overtime the Dolphins had a chance to win the game when a cross came in from the right side and a Canton defender hit the ball with his hand which awarded the Dolphins with a penalty kick.  The ref put the ball on the penalty spot and the crowd went silent as Peter Hanna stepped up with the chance to win the game for his team.  Hanna would approach the ball and sail it over the bar to allow the game to continue and eventually end in a 1-1 draw.

The tie in the game is the first for the Dolphins this season and their first since a scoreless tie against Berkeley College last year on September 16.  Up next for the Dolphins is a date with CUNYAC-rivals Lehman College on the road on Wednesday at 7pm.