Jamestown, N.D. – The University of Jamestown men's soccer team played to a 2-2 draw against the South Dakota Mines Hardrockers Monday afternoon at Charlotte and Gordon Hanson Stadium.
The Jimmies move to 0-0-2 with a late-week road trip to the Rocky Mountains coming up. The Hardrockers move to 1-0-1.
South Dakota Mines was not messing around, and just 2:30 into the game, the Hardrockers broke the scoreless tie. The visitors had a throw-in deep in the corner and Nickolas North, the South Dakota Mines leading scorer from a season ago, rushed in from the front of the net and headed in into the top right of the net for 1-0 visitors lead.
Not long after the goal, in the ninth minute, the Hardrockers had a free kick right outside the Jamestown box. Bennett Dykstra attempted a shot into the top left corner, but Jimmies netminder
Valon Ismaili got a hand on it, and made a fantastic save. However, with Ismaili on the ground and the ball loose right in front of the goal, Lucas Miranda recovered the miss and found the twine as South Dakota Mines took a 2-0 lead less than nine minutes in.
The Jimmies kicked it into high gear now needing at least two goals. Some aggressive play on the other end led to UJ drawing a foul a few yards outside the Hardrockers box.
Sohiab Bouika el Haddad Kaddour took the kick and sent a beauty into the top right corner of the net. Abdo Salem Abdullah made a diving effort, but it was just out of the reach of the netminder with the Jimmies notching their first goal of the season and getting the game within one goal in the 11
th minute.
With all the momentum on their side, the Jimmies scored the game's fourth goal in the 12
th minute. A long pass found
Nuutti Norhomaa open downfield. Norhomaa fought off a couple of defenders and made his way into the right side of the South Dakota Mines box. The Finland native made a centering pass to
Justin Junaid who was cutting in, and Junaid one-timed in bottom left and into the goal as the Jimmes scored twice in a 1:29 span to make the contest 2-2.
The rest of the first half was eventful, but without any more goals. Ismaili made three more saves in the first stanza to keep the game where it was at.
Ball possession was nearly even, but
Kai Yoshida had the only other shot for the Jimmies in the 33
rd minute, that being on a Hardrockers turnover in the defensive zone that led to a good look from dead center right outside the box, but the shot was blocked by a South Dakota Mines defender.
With just a bit over three minutes to play in the first half, a Hardrockers defender tripped over the ball and committed a possible uncalled handball in his team's box. The Jimmies challenged, but after a review, the no-call was confirmed as the game continued.
The first half ended with total shots in favor of the visitors (10-3) and shots on goal at 7-2.
Into the 51
st minute,
Justin Junaid intercepted a pass on the Hardrockers side of the field, then got a great look off around the edge of the top of the box, but the shot was just a couple of feet off to the right.
The Hardrockers had slightly more possession time in the second half, but Jamestown held their ground. Ismaili had a few more save in the mid stages of the half, and then a fantastic diving stop in the 85
th minute on what appeared to be a game-winner by Xavier Gibson.
Freddie Tomkinson had a long shot on goal with 48 seconds left to play on what was the only shot on net for the Jimmies outside of the two goals themselves. Neither team had any fantastic looks in the final couple of minutes, and the second half buzzer sounded as the game ended in a draw.
Both Bouika el Hadad Kaddour and Junaid scored their first goals of their collegiate careers while the freshman Norhomaa had his first assist. Ismaili looked great in net with a career-best 10 saves on 12 shots faced.
Team shots finished 18-7 in favor of the Hardrockers. The visitors notched 12 shots on net while the Jimmies had three. South Dakota Mines had four opprotunies on corner kicks while the Jimmies had just one.
UJ will embark on their first road trip of the season where they will head deep into the Rocky Mountains to first play Colorado Mesa University on Thursday, September 3 at 7 p.m. MDT (8 p.m. CDT).
