EWING, N.J. – Pablo Argueta scored his first career goal with under five minutes remaining as the TCNJ men's soccer team salvaged a 1-1 draw with Farmingdale State in the opener of the TCNJ Men's Soccer Classic on Saturday.
Down by a goal since the 15
th minute, the Lions finally broke through in the 86
th when
Matias Hornos dribbled to the left side of the box near the end line and squeaked a pass through a pair of defenders for Argueta, who squared and fired home to the right corner of the net.
TCNJ nearly grabbed an early lead when
Mike Garofalo rose to meet a corner from
Lucas Sample, but his rising header rang the crossbar and was collected by the Rams keeper. Instead, Farmingdale State was first on the board about 15 minutes in, cashing in on a Lions hand-ball in the box as Rafael Castro converted the penalty.
The hosts continued to knock on the door in the first half. Hornos saw a shot deflected just wide into the side netting, and
J.J. Zaun was thwarted by a finger-tip save after being played in behind the defense by a beautiful ball from
Julien Carraha. Hornos nearly got on the scoresheet again with 5 minutes left in the half, shaving the crossbar after getting past a defender at the edge of the box.
Hornos ripped another long-range effort with 20 minutes to go, forcing the FSC goalie to dive to his left to keep the ball out of the corner of the net and parry it out for a corner.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Farmingdale State held an 18-12 advantage in shots, but only six were on target as the Lions continuously blocked the visitors' long-range efforts
- TCNJ took nine corners to six for the Rams
- Logan Gebhart finished with five saves for TCNJ
NOTES
- Saturday marked the second straight game in which TCNJ equalized in the final five minutes
- Hornos' assist was the first of his career
- TCNJ has drawn each of its last two matches
UP NEXT
- The Lions take on Union (N.Y.) in the tournament finale Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
