Despite starting the season 1-7, the Eastern Mennonite men had a slight silver lining to cling to. They had lost just two conference games and both were to teams picked in the top four of the preseason poll. Wednesday the Royals hosted archrival Bridgewater, which was picked tenth in the poll. It was a heated battle from start to finish and it ended in an unsatisfying 2-2 draw.

The Royals had scored just two goals in their first eight games, but broke through early against the Eagles. In the 7th minute, Brent Yoder (Sarasota, Fl./Sarasota Christian) launched a corner kick across the front of the goal. Jay Shearer (Harrisonburg, Va./Turner Ashby) headed it towards the goal and Muoka Musau (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge) knocked it in for the game's first score.

The half continued at a frenzied pace with EMU holding a 12-8 edge in shots. Three yellow cards were called in the frame, but the score remained 1-0.

Bridgewater wasted little time getting an equalizer in the second, scoring on a rebound in the 49th minute. But the Royals had an answer less than two minutes later, as Mitchell Leap (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite) took a pass from Ryan Eshleman (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite) and flipped it over the charging keeper's head. Leap's second goal of the year made the score 2-1.

The Eagles made a few charges and finally got their second equalizer in the 80th minute, knotting the score at 2-2.

With just over six minutes left in regulation, EMU was tagged with a red card, putting them a man down the rest of the way. Bridgewater made a couple of late runs in the final two minutes, but both shots went wide and the game slipped into overtime.

Despite playing a man short in both overtimes, the Royals got the only shot attempt in the first OT. The Eagles played a frenetic second OT, but couldn't score either. The men got their second red card by bumping into the BC keeper with eight seconds left in the game and the contest ended in a heated tie.

The Royals held a slight edge in shots at 25-24. Each team had eight shots on goal. The officials kept busy, calling a total of 28 fouls, six yellow cards and two red cards.

EMU keeper Ryan Baker (Virginia Beach, Va./Menchville) made five saves in goal. The team also picked up a save for knocking out a ball that got past Baker.

The tie did end a five-game losing streak for the Royals, who are now 1-7-1 including 0-2-1 in ODAC play. Eastern Mennonite next hits the road for a contest at Emory & Henry Saturday at 7:00pm.