CLINTON, Miss. — Down two goals. Less than 21 minutes remaining.
Christian Brothers University Men's Soccer still wasn't finished.
The Buccaneers delivered a furious second-half comeback Wednesday afternoon, scoring twice in the final 21 minutes — including the equalizer with just 33 seconds remaining — to battle Mississippi Christian to a thrilling 2-2 draw in Gulf South Conference action.
Mississippi Christian struck first in the 13th minute, sending CBU into halftime trailing 1-0. The hosts added another goal at the 67:01 mark of the second half, putting the Buccaneers in a 2-0 hole.
Instead of folding, CBU responded almost immediately.
Just 2:50 after falling behind by two, Twan Roeling put the Buccaneers on the board at 69:51, scoring his first goal of the season and suddenly bringing CBU right back into the match.
The Bucs continued to push as the clock became their biggest opponent.
Then came the moment.
With the clock inside the final minute and CBU still searching for one last opportunity, Marco Manuali delivered. The Buccaneer substitute found the back of the net at 89:27, scoring his first goal of the season and completing CBU's comeback with only 33 seconds left in regulation.
From 2-0 down to 2-2.
CBU finished with eight shots, putting five on goal. Roeling and Manuali each scored on their only attempts, while Lauri Orava and Daiki Ebihara recorded two shots apiece.
The comeback moved the Buccaneers to 3-4-2 overall and 1-1-2 in GSC play. More importantly, CBU walked away with a conference point from a match that appeared to be slipping away late in the second half.
The Bucs were down. They were running out of time. But they never stopped coming.
