WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - Despite playing down a man for over 65 minutes, the Wesleyan men's soccer team put up a valiant fight and managed to come away with a 1-1 draw at Little 3 rival Williams on Saturday from Cole Field. Wesleyan breaks a two-game losing steak to move to 1-2-1 (0-2-1 NESCAC) on the season while Williams is now 2-1-1 (0-1-1 NESCAC) in 2021.

In the 54^th minute of play with the game still scoreless, Oliver Clarke '25 picked up his second yellow and was shown a red as the Cardinals had to adjust tactics now playing with 10 against 11. As five new players subbed on for Williams, Wesleyan hit the Ephs on a classic counter and earned a corner kick. On the ensuing set piece, a foul in the box enlisted the referee to blow his whistle and aware a penalty kick to the Cardinals. Wesleyan's designated PK taker Dane Harmaty '24 stepped to the spot and made no mistake, giving the Cardinals an unexpected 1-0 lead just 3:15 after Clarke was shown red.

Rather than sit back, Wesleyan was still aggressive and looked for an insurance marker as Zach Wheeler '25 saw an attempt saved by Williams keeper Michael Davis in the 67^th minute but the Ephs did manage to take their chance just moments later as Dylan Kelemen laid the ball off to Daniel Zhang who tucked the ball into the back of the net from just five yards out to even the score at 1-1.

Williams continued to push but the Wesleyan defense held strong, limiting the Ephs to just one shot on-target for the remainder of regulation. In the overtime periods, the two sides didn't push the issue and no strong scoring chances presented themselves as the rivals each walked away with one point in the 1-1 deadlock.

Incredibly, this is the fifth time in the last six meetings that a match between these two teams has gone into overtime. Stretching out over a longer period of time, over the last 14 Wesleyan vs. Williams meetings, 10 have needed extra sessions.

Harmaty found his name on the scoresheet for the second time in 2021 with both of his goals coming from penalties. Liam Devanny '23 continued to play solid in the net as he made five saves in the 110-minute match. Much credit goes to the Cardinal back line – Evan O'Brien '24, Nick Wallick '22, Mason Davisson '23 and Chris Porte '25 – who each played 110 minutes, over 65 of which with Williams playing a man-up.

This match concludes what is the Cardinals' toughest portion of their 2021 schedule as Wesleyan has a pair of NESCAC home games next week starting with Trinity on Wednesday (4:30 PM) and Bowdoin on Saturday (11 AM). Five of the next six matches for the Cardinals will be played at home.