Daniel Davren netted two goals and Sean Reilly posted three assists but the St. Thomas Aquinas College men's soccer team settled for a 3-3 deadlock against NYIT in Old Westbury. STAC is now 2-5-3 overall this season and 1-3-2 in the East Coast Conference with NYIT standing at 5-4-2, 2-2-1.

Despite an evenly-played start, it was the Spartans who converted on their early opportunities to bolt to a 3-0 lead. Reilly's first assist was a nice feed that sent Davren in alone on Bears goalkeeper Liam Waddy, who came off the line only to see Davren artistically head the ball over his outstretched arms at 13:46.

Less than two minutes later, Davren stunned the hosts with his second of the day, off another pass from Reilly, that made the score 2-0 at 15:48. The lead became three goals when Brendan Flynn dribbled across the top of the penalty area and unleashed a bullet at the 25:03 mark, giving the visitors goals on their first three shots of the day.

Perhaps the turning point of the afternoon came in the dying seconds of the first half, when STAC's Hayri Altinas hit the crossbar with just two ticks left on the clock. With a narrow 6-5 edge in shots, the Spartans found themselves trying to protect a three-goal cushion.

The second half belonged to the hosts, who exerted pressure from the opening moments. At 60:47, Matt DiDonna took a long ball off a Vinny Caccavale free kick and tucked it past Spartans netminder Andrew Tartara to put the Bears on the board. NYIT trimmed the deficit to one off a wild scramble at 71:16. Herve Valcourt's dangerous shot from inside the box was blocked in front but found Ivan Rico, who was victimized on a diving stop by Tartara. The third chance was the charm as DiDonna hit the net to make the score 3-2.

With just under 10 minutes left, the Bears found the equalizer when Valcourt's pass hit Matthew Jean-Baptiste, who hit the back of the net at 81:59. In all, NYIT outshot the Spartans by a 14-2 count in the second half and were able to send the affair to overtime in spite of Tartara's five saves.

Both teams battled through two tightly-played overtime stanzas, sending each home with a tie. NYIT dominated the shots tally by a 21-9 margin and Tartara made nine saves. Waddy, who was not credited with a save, was replaced at halftime by John Tzanidakis, who was forced to make just one stop in his 65 minutes of action.

STAC returns to action this Tuesday, October 9, in a non-conference tilt with Caldwell College. The Spartans will serve as the host team and the game will be played at Torne Valley, with a 5:00 pm kickoff time (please note site and time change).