By Jack Fennell

THE 25th-ranked York College Spartans men’s soccer team on Wednesday faced off against the St. Mary’s (Md.) Seahawks in a close defensive battle that went right down to the end of the game.

Luke Nall scored the only Spartan goal less than 10 minutes into the game and was assisted by Tyler Howlett and Jack Mitzelfelt. The Spartans played fantastic defense led by goalie Brady Bixler, who recorded six saves on the day.

But with less than five seconds to play, Thomas Williamson scored the game tying-goal on an assist by Lucca Mazzola, stealing a Spartan win and leaving the outcome in a 1-1 tie.

York College is now 3-0-2. St. Mary’s is 1-1-4.

Bixler after the game said he was “upset” about the last-second goal but “happy with how the team performed, but we need to play with a 90-minute mentality and not a 89-minute and 55-second mentality”

Coach Evan Scheffey said he “was happy with how well they defended and said that was something that they pride themselves in.” Asked how he felt about the last-second goal, he said that “it’s tough to end like that.”

Still, he said, Bixler “made great saves on the crosses and was sharp,” and stated that he has “stepped up over the last threee games.” 

York College, in the middle of a four-game stretch of home games, is set to face off against Bridgewater (Va.) at 3 p.m. Saturday at Graham Field.

Jack Fennell is a freshman majoring in Sport Media.

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