Storm battle to 2-2 draw with Buena Vista

INDIANOLA, Iowa -- Baraka Ellie and Justin Gilmour scored first-half goals for the Simpson men's soccer team but Buena Vista evened things up in the second 45 minutes as the teams played to a 2-2 draw on a cold, wet Friday night at Buxton Stadium.

Due to excessive lightning delays that pushed the start of the women's game back nearly three hours, the men's game didn't kick off until 8:57 p.m. Severe weather held off for 90 minutes, but a close lightning strike put an end to the contest before an overtime period could take place.

The Storm remain unbeaten in American Rivers Conference play and are now 8-3-2 overall and 3-0-1 in the league. The Beavers improve to 0-11-1 and 0-2-1 in conference play.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Storm controlled the pace of play in the first half and were rewarded with goals by Baraka Ellie and Justin Gilmour. Ellie hammered home a deep shot from the top of the box in the 13th minute and Gilmour took a throw in from Ian Dean before finding the back of the net on a rocket from 25 yards out in the 24th minute.

Despite being outshot 11-3 in the period, the second half belonged to Buena Vista. Jared Dow cut Simpson's lead in half, gathering a deflection off Gum Riak's shot in the 52nd minute. David Arona provided the equalizer on a breakaway in the 77th minute.

The Storm had a number of near misses throughout the game, but the biggest occurred just over 3 minutes in when Tanner Alderson rifled a shot off the right goalpost.

Buena Vista threatened to get on the board in the final minute of the first half, but a great play by goalkeeper Jake Potratz kept it a 2-0 game and likely saved the draw. Noah Bardwell got free near the top of the box and went far post, forcing Potratz to make a full-extension save in order to preserve the lead.

GAME NOTES

• Buena Vista's win snaps Simpson's 10-game winning streak in the series.
• The Storm set season-highs for shots (27), shots on goal (10) and corner kicks (15).
• Justin Gilmour factored into the scoring for the third-straight game. He assisted on Ian Dean's final goal in Wednesday's win over Nebraska Wesleyan and scored the second goal in Simpson's 2-0 victory over dubuque on Sept. 29.

UP NEXT

Simpson travels to play Luther on Tuesday, Oct. 9. Start time is set for 7 p.m. in Decorah.