COLLEGEVILLE, PA. – Junior midfielder Tommy Mollis notched five points behind two goals and an assist to lead the Ursinus Men's Soccer team to a 3-3 draw against Muhlenberg College on Wednesday evening.
 

With the draw, the Bears moved to 3-8-3 overall and 0-6-1 in Centennial Conference action, meanwhile the Mules moved to 6-5-4 on the season and 3-1-3 in conference play.
 

"Tonight, we grew and I'm proud of our team," Head Coach Daniel Clitnovici said. "We made some mistakes early on and Muhlenberg capitalized. To come back from down 3-1 at halftime to tying the game 3-3, while creating opportunities to win at the end. It shows the resilience and attitude of this group."
 

Each team traded opportunities in the opening minutes with Mollis recording a shot on net that was saved by the Mules netminder. In the 25^th minute, the Mules patience paid off as a nice through ball from Taylan Akdag split the Bears defense finding Zack Mikuta inside the box. Mikuta's shot snuck past junior goalkeeper Peter Schoenberg in net for a 1-0 advantage. Moments later, after a blocked shot by the Bears back line, Akdag fired a strong rebound shot into the back of the net for an early 2-0 advantage.
 

Ursinus quickly answered in the 33^rd minute as Mollis earned his first goal of the contest and third of the season to cut the Bears deficit to one. After a foul on the Mules, a free kick took place in the midfield. The Mules denied the first opportunity sending it back towards the Bears back line, but a great header found Jack Schmidt with plenty of space outside the box. Schmidt sent a low cross into the box, finding Mollis for a header that was aimed perfectly towards the far post. Muhlenberg answered with a goal in the 41st minute, as Jason Edelstein scored on a contested shot from just inside the box to make the score 3-1 heading into halftime.


Ursinus quickly answered with a goal in the opening minutes of the second half, as Mollis found Luke Luehrs for his first goal of the season, cutting the deficit to one. On the counterattack, Mollis created space between the Mules defense and sent a cross into the box. The pass tipped off the gloves of Muhlenberg's goalkeeper and Luehrs shot snuck past the Mules defense.
 
In the 58^th minute on a free kick opportunity from midfield for the Bears, a foul was called inside the box resulting in a penalty kick for Ursinus. Mollis stepped up for the chance to score the equalizer, but his shot sailed off the crossbar and back into the midfield to keep the score at 3-2. In the 62^nd minute, the Mules were awarded their chance for a penalty kick to increase their lead. Chris Richards stepped up for the opportunity but was denied by Schoenberg in net for Ursinus. Schoenberg made a diving save to his left to keep the deficit at one, while continuing his stellar play with his third consecutive penalty kick saved this season.


The Bears defense continued to halt the Mules offense in the second half, as Schoenberg and the backline denied back-to-back opportunities in the 69^th minute. Ursinus showed their resilience throughout the contest and their efforts paid off in the 73^rd minute, as Mollis tied the match at three a piece on his second goal of the contest. After a battle for a throw in on the far side of the field, a rebound found the junior midfielder who created space inside the box and sent an arching shot over the Mules defense and into the back of the net.


The Bears defense made another save in the final minutes as the contest ended in a 3-3 draw. After the contest Clitnovici added, "We are a work in progress, and we have faced some serious challenges this season and again this week. We missed several players tonight, yet we stuck to the game plan, made some adjustments at halftime and the boys executed. That's all I can ask for."
 

The Mules held a slight 7-5 edge in shots on goal while the Bears defense was credited with four saves in the second half. The Bears will return to action on Friday with a trip to Lancaster for a Centennial Conference matchup with No. 18 Franklin & Marshall at 7pm.