Lions battle Bobcats to season-opening draw

MARS HILL, N.C. - The Mars Hill men's soccer team (0-0-1) earned a 1-1 draw with the Lees-McRae (0-0-1) Bobcats inside the Ammons Family Athletic Center and Meares Stadium in Thursday night's season opener.

Mars Hill entered the second half trailing 1-0 off of Francisco Silvestre's first goal of the season less than nine minutes into the contest.  The Lions knotted the game at one 15 minutes into the second half off of Sebastian Bertilsson's first of the season.  An aerial pass sent the junior forward onto a breakaway where he buried the ball past Anton Sundstrom inside the far post.

The Lions continued to outshoot the Bobcats in the second half, 10-3, but were unable to get the go-ahead goal, including a free kick opportunity that rang off of the crossbar late in the half.

Silvestre led the Bobcats with two shots on the night.  Four Lions (Adnan Saltagic, Jordan Lennon, Walker Henderson, and Roberto Haddad) each recorded two shots on goal.

Brennan Whalen made five stops in his collegiate debut for Mars Hill.  Sundstrom stopped eight shots on the night.

The Lions take to the road on Saturday, September 7 when they take on Shorter in non-conference action.  The game is slated for a 6 p.m. start.