FORT WORTH - Texas Wesleyan University Men's Soccer (6-6-1, 2-3-1 SAC) helped their position in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings Tuesday night splitting with University of Science and Arts - Oklahoma (9-3-2, 3-1-2 SAC) 1-1.

Texas Wesleyan was eight minutes away from getting a win before an 84th minute goal by USAO's Telmo Lertxundi tied up the night, which pushed in to double overtime and an end time of nearly midnight following schedule push-backs due to weather and a tied women's final just before. Still, goalkeeper Bastian Blumenberg and the backline held firm much of the night, saving six of 20 shots that landed on goal. That defense was especially crucial in the first overtime.
 
Blumenberg saved two in the first overtime period - one in the 98th minute and once in the 99th. Keagan Da Silva, Jahvain Russell, Jermaine Morris and Kion Hosseinpour rattled the Drovers and cleared multiple attacks into the box, holding USAO to one goal for just the third time in their last 10 matches.

On the offensive side, the teamwork of Claudio Barraza and George Battersby got it done. In the 56th minute, Barraza asserted himself and stole the ball from a defender, passing it off beautifully to Battersby who had a chance to finish - and emphatically did. After just one shot in the first half, the Rams put six shots through, three on goal in the second frame. Three different times after USAO's tying goal, Texas Wesleyan had a chance to shut the door, but Battersby had shots blocked (86th) and sailed left (89th) while Da Silva's attempt went high (87th).

In the second overtime, both teams combined to just get one shot off. Battersby drove home the most opportunities, with three shots total.

RAMBLINGS
Since 2015, Men's Soccer has tied five times in conference, to five different conference opponents, never tying anyone more than once: Mid-America Christian University (2015), Southwestern Assemblies of God (2016), Oklahoma City (2016), John Brown (2017) and USAO (2018).

WHAT'S NEXT
MACU comes to Martin Field Friday night at 7 p.m. for Senior Night in a critical conference game with the 4-2 Evangels, who currently sit in the conference's third slot behind Wayland Baptist and Southwestern Christian. While the Rams are more youthful this season than most, the veteran lineup includes Battersby, Ojuok Otieno, Eder Falcon, Kian Hosseinpour and Mario Tascon.