NEWARK, DE -- Junior tri-captain Anthony Talarico (right) scored the Blue Hens’ first two goals of the season to lead the University of Delaware men’s soccer team to a 2-2 tie against St. Mary’s (CA) on Friday afternoon at Delaware Mini-Stadium.

The Hens (0-2-2) had been shutout in their first three games before Talarico opened the scoring, gathering the ball out of a scrum and putting home the shot from 10 yards out on the right side 30:52 into the contest. The Hens’ kept the pressure on the Gaels, and ended the first half with a 9-3 shot advantage.

St. Mary’s (2-2-1) tied the game 4:16 into the second half when Alex Christlieb fired home a shot from the left side of the box off of a corner kick by Carlos Diaz. Only eight minutes later, the Gaels took the lead when Diaz scored from 15 yards out off of a beautiful series of one-touch passes, the last from Matthew Fitzgerald.

After losing the lead, Delaware tied the match with less than 14 minutes remaining when Talarico scored his second goal of the day on a shot from the left side of the net, set up by Justin Arpan.

The game remained deadlocked throughout the rest of regulation and the two overtimes. With less than a minute remaining in the first overtime, St. Mary’s midfielder Adam Zielske launched a shot seemingly headed for the inside of the right post, but Delaware freshman goalkeeper Taylor Thames made a spectacular diving save to his left to preserve the tie. Thames made six saves on the day while St. Mary’s keeper Brian Mason, a Freshman All-American last season, made seven saves, many from close range.
  
Delaware will return to action this weekend when the Blue Hens travel to Mount St. Mary’s. Game time on Sunday is set for 2:00 p.m.

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