Fayette, Iowa – The University of Jamestown men's soccer team had their best offensive performance of the season in a 3-3 road draw at Upper Iowa University Wednesday afternoon at Harms-Eischeid Stadium.
The Jimmies gain a point to get to 1-8-4 on the season while Upper Iowa moves to 1-9-6.
Jamestown did not take long to score their opening goal. Around midfield, Kai Yoshida sent the ball long up towards the Peacocks box. Nuutii Norhomaa was flying down the middle of the field past the Upper Iowa defenders. The ball landed perfectly to the Finland native ahead of the defense, he dribbled to himself once and then sent it past Peacock netminder Noah Nymark-Pedersen to open the scoring in the third minute of action.
It was a fasted paced game over the next 15 minutes, with both teams getting a couple of transition chances with some corner kicks as well.
In the 20th minute, Norhomaa had a nice touch to Finley Comstock which led to a great look around the edge of the box, but Nymark-Pedersen came way out of his net to block Comstock's shot for a great save.
Norhomaa had another shot on goal in the 28th minute, this one off a cross headed towards the far post. This look was only about 15 yards out, but Nymark-Pedersen made another great diving save.
The second goal for the Jimmies did not come long after this chance. On a free kick about 10 yards outside the box, Sohaib Bouika el Haddad Kaddour tapped it to Kai Yoshida around the edge of the box. Yoshida then passed to a cutting Jack Greenwood flying in down the left side and the England native blasted it on a one-timer into the net with the beautiful tic-tac-toe set play giving Jamestown a multi-goal lead with 14 minute left in the first half.
This two-goal advantage only lasted 31 seconds though as Upper Iowa pushed into the Jimmies zone, then a Peacock was tripped up inside the box, leading to a penalty kick. Valon Ismaili dived to his right on the attempt, but Alejandro Suarez sent the ball to his left for the score and the 2-1 game.
After the game's third goal each team had some decent zone time, but no more results on the scoreboard. The Jimmies had one corner kick and a shot by Andrei Filho before time expired in the first half.
UJ held their 2-1 advantage going into halftime while also leading shots (6-5), shots on goal (4-2), and corner kicks (4-1).
Two minutes into the second half, chaos ensued in front of the Jamestown net. A Peacock got deep into the right corner, crossed it, then Timur Nagy had a great look from about six yards out, but it was blocked right in front of the net.
The pressure by UIU payed off in the 55th minute after the Jimmies committed a foul in their box for the second time in the afternoon. Another penalty kick resulted, and so did the second Upper Iowa goal, this one scored by Nagy as he beat Ismaili top left for the 2-2 tie.
The Peacocks took the lead in the 63rd minute after a transition opportunity caught Jamestown off guard. Nagy scored his second goal of the game on a one-timer just outside the 6-yard box for the third unanswered UIU goal which gave Upper Iowa a 3-2 advantage.
Comstock looked like he had a nice chance about 30 seconds after the goal was scored, but he was whistled offside. Midway through the half, Mario Fernandez had a decent look on a header from a corner kick, but it went wide right.
Into the 73rd minute, the Jimmies pushed down the field and Joshua Jackson tied the game. Finley Comstock got deep into the left corner, then connected with Jackson racing down the field in front of the net. The Jamacia native scored into the right corner with Jamestown responding after giving up three straight goals.
With the game knotted at three goals apiece, Upper Iowa had a few more chances late in the game, but their most dangerous one came in the 83rd minute with a long-distance shot aimed for the low-center of the net. Ismaili made a diving save to preserve the tie.
Two more big chances occurred for the Jimmies. In the 85th minute, Norhomaa got some space near the top of the box, but his shot did not get enough air and Nymark-Pederson dived to his right for the save. Later, Zenk had a golden opportunity with just over a minute left, but his shot from 20 yards out was just a foot high of the net.
The final seconds of the game ticked away with UIU failing to capitalize on a free kick, and the two teams heading off the field with a 3-3 draw.
Norhomaa's goal was his team-high sixth of the season while Greenwood and Jackson got their first tallies of the year. Both Yoshida and Comstock each got into the point column as well with both going for two assists against the Peacocks.
Upper Iowa had two more corner kicks in the game than UJ (7-5), but Jamestown outshot UIU 20-15 overall and 7-5 on shots on net. Three goals, seven shots on target, and 20 total shot attempts were all season-highs for UJ.
The Jimmies will have two more games on the schedule, both in the Pacific Northwest against GNAC teams. First, is at Western Washington University on Saturday, October 24 at 4 p.m. PT (6 p.m. CT).
