The No. 3 Colorado College men's soccer team settled for a draw against No. 13 Christopher Newport in Newport News, VA. The Tigers played with only ten players for 48 minutes, including the entire second half, but still managed to tie the Captains.
 
CC finished with 11 shots to CNU's 12, including four in the second half, despite playing a defensive-first game.
 
Goalkeeper Spencer Besselaar faced five shots on goal and collected a career-high four saves.
 
"It's unfortunate to go down a man in the first half," head coach Scott Palguta said. "Once when that happens, you just have to take care of what's in front of you, and I thought the group did an outstanding job. We really limited them in the second half." 
 
Junior Oliver Ramirez struck first for CC in the ninth minute after splitting the right-side defenders and putting it in the back of the net. Senior Alexander Ward was credited for the assist, his second of the season and first since the season opener against Fontbonne.
 
Ramirez is now the eighth player on the roster with a multi-goal season, which is tremendous for the Tigers' ability to spread the wealth and score no matter who is on the pitch.
 
The goal set the tone for the first half of the game as the Tigers appeared to assert their dominance until the Captains equalized the game in the 27^th minute.  
 
Vincent Luglio received two yellow cards in the 34^th and 43^rd minutes, which sent him off the field. CC then shifted focus to defending the net.
 
With the game tied at 1-1 at the break, CC waited for its chance on offense, which came in spurts as the attack had multiple chances to go ahead for a second time.
 
Senior Curtis Hale had the first shot of the second half in the 49^th minute, and his second was followed by another by Jack Hilliard in the 67^th minute. The Tigers only got one more off in the 83^rd minute by Hilliard that went wide.
 
Hale and Hilliard led the team with two shots. CC finished with three corner kicks to CNU's five. The Tigers collected only eight fouls to the Captain's 18. 
 
"If you want to be able to play deep in November, you have to be able to defend in different environments," Palguta said. "So to come into a Top 15 [team]'s home, play down a man, grind and defend as well as we did, it's certainly a positive spin out of this." 
 
The Tigers moved to 5-0-2 on the season and came away with a point. They face a much stricter test tomorrow in No. 1 Mary Washington. CC will aim for its first defeat of a nationally ranked No. 1 team since 2015. 
 
Game time is set for 5 p.m. EST.