NORTH ADAMS, Mass. - The visiting Bridgewater State men's soccer team jumped out to an early 2-0 lead over MCLA, however the Trailblazers rallied and the two rivals ended in a 2-2 draw in a pivotal MASCAC matchup at Shewcraft Field.

 

With the result, the Bears earned at least a share of the regular season title as they stand at 4-1-1 in the conference.  MCLA earned its third straight conference draw as they are now 2-1-3 in the MASCAC.

 

The Bears (8-7-1 overall) jumped out to an early advantage just six minutes into play when Conor Murtagh scored on a header. Nicholas Keddie sent a corner kick into the box and it was headed towards the left post. Charlie Lawson headed it to Murtagh who finished it off for his team leading seventh goal of the season.

 

Just eight minutes later the Bears struck again. This time Lawson corraled a pass from Murtagh and knocked it by Matt Robinson for an early 2-0 advantage.

 

From there, the momentum shifted when they Bears were whistled for a foul on Anthony Basile inside the box resulting in a penalty kick in the 16th minute.  Basile rifled a shot that found the net cutting the Bears lead to 2-1. The score remained that way into halftime even though BSU held a commanding 11-2 shot advantage.

 

Basile once again brought the Trailblazers back as he scored in the 55th minute after a free kick from Tyler Russell was sent into the box. Basile muscled his way to the ball and beat Bear keeper Colin Jepson to tie the score at 2-2.

 

The Bears hit the crossbar on a pair of occasions later in the half, however neither carom would go their way.

 

In the OT sessions, each team had a few limited chances, however time would run out giving each team a hard fought point.

 

Jepson collected four saves for BSU while Robinson notched seven for MCLA.

 

The Bears outshot MCLA 29-14 on the day and held a 12-4 edge in corners.

 

The Trailblazers will end their regular season on Saturday at Mass Maritime.