Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Eli Salisbury (left) and Ivan Celedon (right) celebrate after tying up their game against St. Peter in the second half on Friday at Mattke Field. The Tigers and Saints finished in a 1-1 tie.

MARSHALL — When the Marshall and St. Peter boys soccer teams met in last year’s season opener, it took two overtime periods to ultimately force a 1-1 draw. This year’s opener between the two clubs had an equally similar feel to it, with both sides battling it out.

But with no overtime periods during games this fall in an effort to limit the amount of close contact on the field to keep players safe throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, time is of the essence. The Tigers made sure to make every second count, and with just 20 ticks left in the game, were able to benefit from a late mistake by the Saints and earn a thrilling 1-1 tie on Friday night at Mattke Field.

Trailing 1-0 for the majority of the game, Marshall continued to battle, recording several strong shots at the net in the second half. As time went under a minute remaining, the Tigers kept pushing the ball upfield in hopes of finding the equalizer. Then with 20 seconds to go, the ball found its way into the back of the net on an own goal by St. Peter, tying things up at 1-1 and sending the Marshall crowd and players into a frenzy.

Marshall coach Roberto Esparza said he was pleased with the way his team fought to the end, but added they need to work on executing what they work on in practice more and transfer that into the game.

“It was a good finish and a good game. We do have to work more on our execution, especially from what we practice on,” Esparza said. “In practice, we were doing some pretty good things, but during the game we weren’t able to execute it as much, so we have to work with that.”

Both teams had some quality chances to find the back of the net early on, with Marshall getting a pair of shots on goal from Eli Salisbury, but neither side could capitalize. A few minutes past the midway point of the opening half, St. Peter was able to strike first, getting a goal with 14:39 left in the half to put the Saints up 1-0.

Looking to find an answer, Marshall continued to attack throughout the remainder of the first half, but didn’t find the right response. The second half started more in St. Peter’s favor, with the Saints controlling the ball and the time for most of the frame before Marshall was able to force the tie in the closing seconds.

Up next

Marshall (0-0-1) will face New Ulm on Sept. 4 at 6:45 p.m.