Box Score ROME, Ga.—Transylvania University's men's soccer team played its way to a scoreless draw against the Berry College Vikings on Sunday. It was the team's fourth double-overtime contest and third 0-0 match on the year.
It was an even match throughout, with neither team gaining a clear advantage. In the first half, midfielder Tyler Joy-Brandon started things off with a shot at the 8:04 mark but he was deterred by a strong save from the Viking goalkeeper. An offsides call against Transy eight minutes later would halt the next serious attack from the Pioneers.
Transylvania could not get much going offensively for much of the remainder of the half but over the final 15 minutes, the Pioneers sent a flurry of shots towards the goal. With nine minutes to play in the first period, midfielder Blake Chidester had a solid look at goal but hit the ball off the post. Transy collected the rebound and midfielder Jacob Gantt followed with a shot of his own but his shot was saved by the Berry keeper. Less than a minute later, midfielder Josh Morgan took a chance and attacked the goal but missed just wide and at the 36:21 mark, Chidester had another shot on goal but it too was saved. Joy-Brandon missed another shot wide with 30 seconds remaining in the half, sending the teams to the locker room deadlocked at nil-nil.
The early going of the second half was physical, as the teams traded fouls in the opening minutes of the period but the teams cooled off and moved into their attack several minutes later. Midfielder Kevin Carroll took a shot in the 55th minute that was saved and four minutes later, midfielder Matt Melzer took a crack at goal but missed wide left.
The Transylvania defense and goalkeeping continued to be a strong suit for the Pioneers as they redirected and halted a number of forward plays from the Vikings. Goalkeeper Cody Waltrip recorded eight saves on all eight shots put on target by Berry in the match.
The fatigue of 90 minutes of play settled in during the overtime periods as the Pioneers failed to take a shot in the additional 20 minutes of play.
"I'm proud of how the guys played today," head coach Matt Vogel said. "We had several very good opportunities to score, especially in the closing seconds of the second overtime period. I thought we had the game won there. Their goalkeeper came up big three or four times during the game to save goal scoring opportunities."
Transylvania (2-1-4) takes the pitch again on Thursday in a matchup with Thomas More. That game will take place at Pat Deacon Stadium on Transy's campus and is slated to begin at 8:00 p.m.
"We look forward to a day of recovery and then we will begin work towards our next match," Vogel said.
