A goal in the closing minutes from graduate student Ryan Winkler helped the Emory University men's soccer team to a 1-1 tie against the University of Rochester in the regular season finale Saturday afternoon in Atlanta.
Prior to the start of the match, the Eagles honored their 11-member graduating class of Winkler, Jake Atallah, Hayden Binfield, Juan Figueroa, Jackson Hartman, Ryan Hayes, Javier Martinez, Grant McCarty, Ryan Nichols, Sebastian Rincon, and Attila Sepkin with a special on-field ceremony.
Trailing 1-0 late in the second half, the Eagles appeared headed for their second UAA defeat of the season. However, a goal from Winkler with 2:16 remaining helped salvage a draw. Freshman Phillip Head sent an excellent long-range throw into the middle of the box to set up the scoring opportunity. The loose ball fell to McCarty where he kicked it out left for Winkler to allow him to put the finishing touches on his 10th goal of the season. Winkler is the first Eagle to reach double figures in goals scored since Jason McCartney had 13 markers during the 2017 campaign.
The draw secures Emory's best UAA record since 2008 as the Eagles end the conference slate at 5-1-1. They'll head into the NCAA postseason with an overall record of 8-6-2.
Neither team had many scoring chances across the first 45 minutes as the halftime score read 0-0. Rochester outshot the Eagles 5-3 and did not allow a SOG to Emory.
The Yellowjackets struck first within the opening minutes in the second half with Milos Bisenic scoring his fifth goal of the season just 1:53 after the teams returned to play.
Nichols and Sepkin had Emory's first chances on goal in the 75th and 84th minutes but could not find the equalizer. Sophomore Sharan Dodwani made the stop on the lone shot he faced in the second half at 62:37 to keep the game at 1-0.
Emory ended the afternoon with an 11-10 lead in total shots while UR had a 4-3 edge in shots on goal.