ASHLAND, Va. -- Eastern Connecticut State University senior defender Jared Caroline (South Windsor) scored off a corner kick 75 seconds into play but Bogue Cummings converted a tying penalty kick with nine minutes left in the first half as the Warriors and host Randolph-Macon College played to a 1-1 men's soccer tie Sunday night at Nunnally Field.

It is the second tie in two days for Eastern (0-0-2), which played Averett College to a 2-2 deadlock Saturday afternoon. Randolph-Macon (1-0-1) was coming off a 4-1 win over Southern Virginia University Saturday.

The Yellow Jackets had a number of opportunities to defeat Eastern in this first meeting between the programs, but Eastern junior keeper Dylan Pallanck (Willington) came up big time and again both before and after Cummings' game-tying penalty kick that was awarded for a takedown in the box. A senior, Cummings sent a perfectly placed low PK inside the left post while Pallanck dove to the opposite post.

The Yellow Jackets had a 22-9 advantage in shots and a slim 9-8 edge in corner kicks. Two of the Yellow Jackets' corners came in succession  inside the final minute, the first resulting in a header that sailed over the crossbar and the second one – coming with 17 seconds left – was re-directed wide. After Caroline converted senior midfielder Andres Mayuri's (West Hartford) corner kick into Eastern's early lead, the Warriors did not threaten seriously off any of their remaining corners.

Inside the final four minutes of a tie game, Eastern was whistled for a handball but RM-C's free kick just outside the box was sent on a line directly at Pallanck, who fell to his knees and covered up. Perhaps the most dangerous of the Yellow Jackets' bids came with 13 minutes left when Pallanck slid to deny a shot inside six yards. The loose ball was controlled by Alexander Benne, whose shot sailed just over the crossbar.

Midway through the second half, Eastern made a bid to break the tie when first-year midfielder Caiden Hettrick-Rivera (Portland) sent a ball through the box from the left side. No teammate could get a foot on it but it deflected over the end line by a R-MC defender. Mayuri's ensuing corner kick was headed to the top of the box, where first-year forward Cayden Boukus' (Mansfield) ground ball shot slid wide of the left post.

In the opening minutes of the second half, R-MC's Kwadjo Tannor drilled a hard shot from close range into the left side of the cage that kept the tie intact. Ten minutes later, the Yellow Jackets nearly broke through off their first corner kick, the ball deflecting out to the top of the box, where Alec Mowry's sot deflected over the crossbar.

Pallanck preserved Eastern's early lead with three key saves in a span of six minutes in the first half. In that stretch, R-MC also threatened with a left-footed shot that bounced off the crossbar and another that sailed over the crossbar.

Pallanck was credited with five saves and sophomore keeper Adam Braithwaite with only three.

Eastern opens its home season Wednesday against Wesleyan University at 4:30 p.m. at Thomas Nevers Field. The meeting is the first between the programs since a 1-1 overtime tie in 2016. Wesleyan leads the all-time series, 10-5-2 but Eastern is 2-1-2 against the Cardinals in the last five games.

 
 
 
 
 
 
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