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Billings, Mont. – Entering into Saturday's contest full of confidence and riding the momentum of the Saint Martins' win, the Montana State Billings men's soccer team stood up and went toe to toe with No. 2 nationally ranked Seattle Pacific Falcons. The Yellowjackets battled their highly talented counterpart into two overtime periods and came up with a respectable 1-1 tie.
 
Saturday's matchup was a very physical and aggressive defensive struggle. At the end of the first half there were only a total of seven shots. MSUB's offense went on the attack first with Landon Horst taking a shot on goal (3:35) that was saved, and senior forward Thomas Sheets taking a shot (3:43) that landed high.
 
The Falcons countered with a shot by Blaine Carver that went high over the crossbar. After goal keeper Eoin Hurley saved a Seattle Pacific shot in the 25^th minute, there wasn't another shot attempt until the 44^th minute of play. The Bryson Pavel attempt went wide right and the Yellowjackets and Seattle Pacific went into the intermission all tied at 0-0.
 
Seattle Pacific started the second half with heavy offensive pressure. Between the 46^th and 66^th minute, the Falcons shot seven shots compared to the Jackets one attempt. While Conner Moe, Matt Brink, Sam Butterworth and the MSUB defense faced heavy pressure, they were stout and did not allow a goal during the offensive onslaught.
 
The highly defensive game saw a turning point late in the second half, when the Yellowjackets produced the first score of the game in the 76^th minute. Butterworth received a great pass from Horst and shot a rocket from the left side of that goal that deflected off the hand of the keeper to land in the right side of the net, giving MSUB the 1-0 advantage.
 
Butterworth's score is his first of the season and first of his Yellowjacket career.
 
Feeling the pressure of being down by one score, the Falcons turned up the already aggressive offense and quickly struck back. In the 82^nd minute Kyle Peterman chipped in a header off of the Danny Olivas corner kick, to even the score 1-1.
 
Despite taking two more shots on goal in the closing minutes, Seattle Pacific was not able to break through the Jackets' tough defense, and at the end of regulation both schools were gridlocked at 1-1.
 
Both overtime periods were very similar, the Falcons controlled the time of possession and made it difficult for the Jackets to convert their defense into offense. Despite being heavily tested, the Yellowjacket defense showed no signs of fatigue and did not break in either period. MSUB's tough defense is a credit to the hard work the student-athletes put in everyday in training and practice. The preparation that head coach Dan McNally and assistant Alex Balog instilled in the team definitely showed in this contest.
 
The contest ended in a 1-1 tie after the second overtime.
 
“I'm really proud of the team today,” stated McNally. “It was a very hard game and we competed very well. Overall it's a good result for us and we are happy with our perfromance.”
 
Hurley made his seventh start of the season and 22^nd of his career.
 
Now standing at 4-2-1 overall and 1-2-1 in the conference, the Yellowjackets will head on the road again for their next GNAC match where they will face new conference member University of Sioux Falls, Thursday, Sept. 27 at 7:00 p.m. (Central Time).


McNally Interview