ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – St. Bonaventure senior Joshua Gonsalves scored an equalizing goal in the 88th minute, and after two scoreless overtime sessions the men's soccer team (4-5-1) settled for a 1-1 tie with visiting Cornell (4-1-3) Monday afternoon in its non-conference finale.
With just two minutes remaining in regulation, Gonsalves received a pass down the right flank from sophomore Brad Vanino. Vanino had made a move in the open field to shake his defender, and created an angle to advance the ball forward.
Once the ball was at his feet, Gonsalves cut back toward the middle of the field from the right side of the box. The Toronto native then placed a perfect shot with his left foot into the very top of the left corner of the net for his first goal of the campaign.
"I'm really happy for Josh," head coach Mel Mahler said of one of his two seniors. "He's been battling injuries all year, and the goal was an absolutely brilliant finish."
After a slow opening 30 minutes of the contest in which there was a lot of physical play in the middle two-thirds of the field, the game opened up and it was Cornell getting on the board first.
A long throw-in from just in front of the Bona bench on the left sideline from Jake Rinow found its way into the middle of the box. From there, the ball was headed from Patrick Slogic onto Conor Goepel, who had a wide open net to deposit his second goal of the year.
"We haven't won a home game yet this year, and our goal was to get a home win," Mahler said. "But getting a tie is OK. We fought to the very end to get the tying goal, and in the process showed a lot of character. Cornell's disruptive style of play, its defensive shape and its counterattack made it hard for us to play our style. I thought we were the better team and had better possession of the ball, but at the end of the day that doesn't matter."
Making his third start of the season – and of his career – freshman Bobby Diaz made five saves in net for the Bonnies. On the other side of the pitch, Rick Pflasterer made just one save, and Gonsalves's goal was the first one that the junior has surrendered in 501 minutes of action as he entered the contest riding a four-game shutout streak.
A physical game throughout, the Big Red were whistled for 21 total fouls, while the Bonnies committed 10, and four yellow cards were handed out by the referee.
"We fell short in our goal of getting a win, but I'd like to believe we have a lot of positive things to build on," Mahler continued. "We get some time now to rest some players and get them healed. We're still searching for consistent starting 11. I was hoping to have more things in place by the end of the non-conference schedule, but with a combination of injuries and inexperience from the top to the bottom of roster, we're still searching for our identity."
The Bonnies will have plenty of time to try and find that identity as the club is off until it opens its Atlantic 10 Conference docket next Friday, Oct. 7 against Duquesne in Pittsburgh.
Game Notes: Cornell was called for eight offsides while the Bonnies were called for one … the Big Red attempted 15 shots compared with SBU's nine … the Ivy League school out-cornered Bona, 6-5 … the tie is the first for St. Bonaventure since its regular-season finale last year on Nov. 6 when it battled A-10 foe Duquesne to a 1-1 tie.
