LORETTO, Pa. – The St. Bonaventure men's soccer team battled Saint Francis University on Sunday afternoon to a 1-1 tie. This was the Bonnies first tie of the season. The Brown and White now stand at 6-4-1, while the Red Flash moves to 7-2-2 overall.

The first half started off with action immediately as the Bonnies would strike first just 23 seconds into the match. Senior Brad Vanino recorded his third goal of the season as he would beat SFU keeper Daniel Valcicak on a strike that ended up in the far right corner of the net off a feed from James Reed. Vanino led all players with three shots in the opening half of play.

The early one goal advantage for the Brown and White would last up until the final minute of the first half when Saint Francis' Bryan Causey would strike for the Red Flash, evening the score at 1-1 going into halftime.

The second half would be played back and forth between the two sides, with shots on goal totaling 8 for the Bonnies to just 4 for the Red Flash by the end of 90 minutes of regulation play. For the second consecutive game for each team, the game would head to overtime.

In the first overtime, both sides exchanged opportunities, with the Bonnies carrying much of the play. Nevertheless, neither squad was able to find the net. The Bonnies outshot the Red Flash 3-1 in the first OT.

In the second and final 10 minute overtime session, it was Saint Francis U that carried much of the play. However, just as St. Bonaventure keeper Jeremy Figler had done all afternoon, he added some more timely saves to his solid performance on the day.

The Bonnies recorded a total of 10 shots on goal on the afternoon (18 attempts total), while SFU recorded 6 shots on goal (20 attempts total). St. Bonaventure seniors Brad Vanino and Emmett O'Connor led SBU with 3 shots on goal each.

"Getting a tie on the road versus SFU is a good result..we've never won here", said Bonnies head coach Mel Mahler following the game. He added: "Having said that, I thought we played well enough to win. We created some excellent chances the last 10 minutes of regulation and throughout the first overtime period. It's dissapointing to let in a goal with a few seconds remaining in the first half but we defended better today than the last match. Now we focus on conference play. All 8 conference matches will be played with pressure for a postseason/playoff spot. There is little to no room for error so we're counting on matches like today to prepare us for the A-10".

Next up, the Bonnies will turn their attention to A-10 Conference play beginning next weekend. The Brown and White will look to be road warriors as the first three conference games will be on the road. On Friday (Oct. 11) the team will travel to Saint Joseph's for a 7:00 p.m. contest and then to La Salle on Sunday (Oct. 13) for a 1:00 p.m. match.