ASHLAND, Ore.  – The Northwest Christian University men's soccer team escaped Raider Stadium with a draw on Saturday afternoon, playing to a 2-2 draw with Southern Oregon University after scoring the first two goals of the contest.
 
The Beacons jumped all over SOU in the first half, maintaining a 10-4 shot advantage. NCU put up their first tally in the 36th minute as Victor Irechukwu (pictured) punched home a six-yard strike out of the air off a free kick from Sergio Maldonado.
 
The score remained 1-0 until the start of the second half. Just five minutes in, Irechukwu scored again, putting home his fourth of the season as he stole a loose ball and scored on a slide at the goalline.
 
All the momentum seemed to be going NCU's way, but that all changed in a matter minutes.
 
In the 53rd minute, SOU was the benefactor of a foul call on the Beacons that brought out a yellow caution card and gave the Raiders a free-kick from 27-yards out. Sean McManamon took the kick going right to left and scored just inside the left post.
 
The second half belonged to the Raiders who had an 8-0 margin in corner kicks and dominated most of the pace of play after the early NCU score. Regardless, the Beacons looked to be headed for the important conference road win until the 85th minute when Carlos Magana drilled a diving header to the far post for the equalizer.
 
Two overtime periods resulted in the shots-on-goal combined, but neither team hit pay dirt again and both picked up one point in the Cascade Conference standings.
 
NCU (5-3-1, 1-2-1 CCC) would finish the game with 19 shot attempts including six from Raul Segoviano and four from Alex Abalan. Yayo Olvera spent all 110 minutes between the pipes, collecting five saves.
 
The Beacons will return to the pitch next Saturday, traveling to Salem to take on No. 11 Corban University at 3 p.m.