BRIDGEWATER, Va. - The Bridgewater College men's soccer team remained unbeaten in 2023 after a 2-2- draw with Shenandoah in its ODAC opener on Wednesday evening at the Bridgewater Soccer Complex.
 
The Basics 
 
Final Score: Bridgewater 2, Shenandoah 2
Records: Bridgewater 4-0-3 (0-0-1 ODAC), Shenandoah 3-1-2 (0-0-1 ODAC)
 
How it Happened 

• Shenandoah got the ball first and immediately went on the offense with a corner kick in the opening minute. Maynor Menendez got a shot off, but it was blocked by the BC back line and went out of play to give SU another corner. The Hornets earned a third corner kick in the opening three minutes and got a shot on frame on the final one but Charles Schweinefuss made the save for BC.
• Bridgewater was able to flip the field and earn some opportunities of its own with a trio of corner kicks. On the final try Noa Denno got a shot off, but it was blocked and sent out of play for an Eagles throw in. BC got a shot off of the long throw from Cole Dunbar as Trey Widrick got an attempt on net and Travis Jett made the save for Shenandoah. BC had chances just past the 20^th minute as Widrick fired two shots but neither found the back of the net thanks to a save by Jett and a deflection by the Hornets. Each team had chances down the stretch, but the game headed to the intermission scoreless
• The Eagles broke the scoring drought just under 10 minutes into the second half as Widrick made a run for the Eagles on a counterattack. Widrick sent his pass across the box where Riley Queen volleyed it in to give BC a 1-0 edge with a lot of time left on the clock. Shenandoah had a response minutes later as Nathan Yared took a free kick just beyond the box for SU. His shot curled in and it tied the game as it found the back of the net.
• The two sides traded saves before Connor Robles found Yared open in the middle of the box. Yared fired away and found the back of the net for the second time to give the Hornets a 2-1 lead with just over 20 minutes left to play. BC responded by cranking up the pressure, but its runs were failing to create shot opportunities. Lestath Savage broke free of the Shenandoah defense on one of those runs but Jett came up to the edge of the box to play the ball and Savage made contact with him to earn a yellow card and raise the intensity even more between the two sides. Two minutes later Savage had another run and this time had help coming behind him. The junior sent a pass across, but it hit a SU defender in the back and found the back of the net to tie the game 2-2 in the 73rd minute.
• Once more each side ramped up the pressure, but Bridgewater put shots on net as Declan Gallagher had a chance turned aside by Jett. Ali Malik made two fantastic runs down the near side and rifled shots on each, but both sailed wide of the goal. Bridgewater had a free kick in the final minute but failed to get a shot off leading to the 2-2 draw.

 
Match Notes 

• Widrick led all players with seven total shots and four on goal. Cinedu Ikem led SU with five shots of his own and three on target.
• The physical contest features four yellow cards and a combined 18 free kicks.
• Schweinefuss totaled four saves for Bridgewater, while Jett made 10 stops for Shenandoah.
• BC won the shot battle 19-16 and held a 9-7 edge in shots on goal. SU had 11 corner kicks compared to just four for the Eagles.

 Up Next 
The Eagles make the long road trip to Guilford on Saturday to battle the Quakers at 3 p.m.