BREVARD, N.C. - Senior forward Francesco Bonometti came off the bench and delivered a go-ahead goal for the Brevard College men's soccer team (6-3-1) in the 74th minute of action, but an equalizer conceded on a free kick in the 78th minute by Johnson & Wales-Charlotte (5-3-4) left Wednesday night's match in a 1-1 draw at Ives-Lemel Family Field.
The result pushes Brevard's unbeaten streak to seven matches, as the Tornados won its last six matches prior to Wednesday's tie. Following an 0-3 start to the 2022 campaign, the Tornados have gone 6-0-1 in its last seven matches, outscoring opposition 13-3 over that span with five shutout victories.
Bonometti, a senior forward from Paderno Franciacorta, Italy, received a Facundo Sunhary pass on a break and proceeded to beat three defenders by himself before curling the go-ahead score into the top-right corner of the net, pushing Brevard to the 1-0 advantage with just over 15 minutes left to play in the match. The score marked Bonometti's first of the 2022 campaign after a five-goal sophomore season in Spring 2021.
Paul Bienefeld (0-0-1) earned the first decision of his Tornado career, playing all 90 minutes for the first time at BC with four saves to the Mainz, Germany native's credit.
Rodrigo Garcia, Ryan Lynch, and Marcos Silva all took two shots each for the Tornados, while Tom Dussauge, Daniel Morgan, and Duncan Struik each recorded a shot attempt. As a team, BC outshot JWU 13-11 and took a total of four corner kicks.
Johnson & Wales were able to control the pace early with three shot attempts in the first 20 minutes of action. BC's Dussauge tallied the first shot-on-target, an effort that forced a save from Wildcat goalkeeper Benjamin Burger.
JWU continued to pepper shots at goal through the first half, outshooting the Tornados 8-3 in the stanza - however Brevard held firm with three Bienefeld saves that help preserve the scoreless draw through the first period.
Brevard made some tactical adjustments at the intermission and came out firing early and often, as the Tornados held a 10-3 shooting advantage in the second half.
Garcia and Luis dos Santos both forced Burger save attempts through the half's first five minutes of play. Morgan recorded a shot on-target for the Tornados from point-blank range as shots from Garcia, Lynch, Silva, and Filipe Tchoulkov all went wide of the target,
Bonometti capitalized on a beautiful build-up on the counter attack, splitting three defenders to curl his goal into the upper-right corner, giving the Tornados their much-desired lead late in the match, 1-0.
After four substitutes from the Wildcats, a foul was committed just outside the visiting penalty box before Diage' Hart ripped in his free kick goal into the top-left corner of the goal, knotting things up at 1-1.
A couple of last-ditch efforts from both teams came up short as the Tornados and Wildcats concluded the non-conference contest in a 1-1 draw.
The Tornados return to USA South play with a Saturday matinee against Mary Baldwin University in Staunton, Virginia at 1 p.m.
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-BC-