PELLA— After a second half battle, the Central College men's soccer team comes away with a draw in its first American Rivers Conference match against Simpson College.
           
After a slow start and letting in an own goal in the first half, the Dutch (3-3-2, 0-0-1 A-R-C) outshot Simpson (4-4-1, 0-0-1 A-R-C) 9-8 in the second half.
           
Centrals only goal came off the foot of Coleman Manuel (senior, Erie, Colo.) with Teddy Apostolopoulos (freshman, Pella) getting the assist after a save. This was Manuel's first goal of the season.
           
"I was really pleased that we were able to fight back," said coach Garry Laidlaw. "It is such a tough conference, especially when you fall behind a goal it is tough to fight back. We need to get more goals from our forwards, and it was great to see Manuel get the equalizer."
           
Goalkeeper Ronan Murphy (senior, Des Moines, Roosevelt HS) grabbed seven saves, only allowing the own goal.  
           
"It wasn't a pretty game, but the fight back was great to see," said Laidlaw. "We were playing for all three points but we'll take the one because we understand how strong this conference is. It was also great to see some forwards who haven't played much give us a jump off the bench."
           
The squad returns to the pitch when it goes on the road and plays the University of Dubuque Saturday at 3:30 p.m.