ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure men's soccer team battled the Saint Louis Billikens to a 2-2 draw this afternoon in the Bonnies A-10 home-opener at McGraw-Jennings Field. The tie puts SBU at 7-6-2 (Overall), 1-2-1 (A-10); and moves SLU 8-3-2 (Overall) 2-0-2 (A-10).

With five minutes remaining in regulation play between the Bonnies and Billikens, it appeared as though Saint Louis was going to hang on for the victory. However, the Brown and White's resiliency and no quit attitude rallied back to score two goals and force overtime with just seconds remaining in regulation.

Saint Louis got on the board first, scoring in the 36^th minute off an attempt that eventually made its way into the goal behind SBU goalkeeper Jeremy Figler. The play originated off of a corner kick and resulted in a quick series of denied scoring attempts in front of the SBU net before Robert Kristo's extra effort found the back of the goal.

At the onset of the second half, the Billikens doubled its lead when Kingsley Bryce's shot from the right side found its way inside the goal post. That was Bryce's second time on the score sheet on the afternoon as he also recorded an assist on the team's first goal.

Despite endless attempts and a great deal of pressure put forth by the Bonnies, It looked as though SLU was going to escape with the victory. However, the Brown and White had other plans and pumped in two quick goals in the final five minutes of the game. Senior Nicholas Perillo added his 6^th tally of the season in the 86^th minute, giving the Bonnies even added momentum. Just three minutes later with seconds remaining on the clock, the onslaught from the Bonnies resulted in the game-tying goal off the foot of Daniel Iannacito for his first goal on the season which couldn't have come at a better time. Both of the late goals were assisted by senior James Reed for his third and fourth assists on the season.

St. Bonaventure outshot Saint Louis 5-1 in the overtime periods. The Brown and White had two golden opportunities, the first coming with just a three minutes remaining the first OT off a corner kick opportunity, but the ball refused to find its way through the scrum and into the net. The save of the game came in the closing seconds of the second OT, when SLU goalkeeper Nick Shackelford denied Nick Perillo from point-blank range, bringing the crowd to the edge of their seats once again.

"Although we only came away with one point with today's tie it was a great result. We've experienced some tough results the past two conference games so finding a way to get a tie being down 2 goals with under 3 minutes to play is great for our boys", said Bonnies head coach Mel Mahler following the match. "We're still in a good position for the post season & anxious to play Dayton Sunday".

St. Bonaventure hits the road once again and is back in action on Sunday (Oct. 27), as it travels to take on Dayton at 2:30 p.m.