Box Score HICKORY, N.C. – Brett Van Pelt scored with 12 seconds remaining in regulation to help lead the University of South Carolina Aiken men's soccer team to a season-opening 1-1 double overtime tie with Lenoir-Rhyne in non-conference action on Wednesday evening at Bears Field at the Moretz Sports Complex.
Neither team could find the back of the net in the first half with the two teams entering intermission with the game knotted at 0-0. Both teams took eight shots in the first stanza. They also each had two corner kicks.
Lenoir-Rhyne (1-1-1) would score the first goal of the match in the 52nd-minute when Zach Charles headed the ball into the back of the net for a 1-0 Bears lead.
The game looked as if it was going to end in a 1-0 Lenoir-Rhyne victory in regulation, but Van Pelt (Aiken, S.C./South Aiken HS) and the Pacers were not going to let that happen.
With just 12 seconds remaining in regulation, Van Pelt headed in a cross from Chinedu Arinze (Stone Mountain, Ga./Georgia State) to send the game into overtime.
Neither team was able to pick up the game-winning goal in the two 10-minute overtime periods.
USC Aiken finished the contest with a 19-17 shot advantage. The Pacers held a slight 7-6 advantage in corner kick opportunities.
USC Aiken (0-0-1) will next close out its first week of the year by traveling to Brevard, N.C. for a 4 p.m. contest against South Atlantic Conference foe Brevard on Saturday, Sept. 8. The Pacers claimed a 2-1 victory in the first-ever meeting between the two teams last season at the "Pacer Pit."
