MACOMB, Ill.-The Western Illinois men's soccer team closed out the exhibition portion of its schedule with a 2-2 tie against Quincy at John MacKenzie Alumni Field on Saturday evening.
The Leathernecks were led by a pair of freshmen, Erick Bloom and Tyler Chavez, as each scored a goal.
Quincy jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half, when Ethan Venvertloh scored in the 20th minute and Michael Andres headed a Steve McAnany free kick into the net in the 25th minute.
Western Illinois answered back less than a minute later, when Bloom beat the goalie far post on an Aaron Winkelmann assist.
Chavez tied the game at 2-2 in the 54th minute with his second goal in as many exhibition games. Aaron Appel's pass was deflected straight to Chavez, who drilled a shot to even the score.
"We were soft verbally early in the game and we made mistakes and they punished us for it," head coach Dr. Eric Johnson said. "Our experienced players really stepped it up later in the game to erase the 2-0 deficit."
Sophomore Yves Dietrich made four saves and allowed two goals in the first half, while sophomore Andre Nichols didn't allow a goal in the second period.
D.J. Lampert made six saves and allowed two goals for the Hawks.
The teams did not play an overtime period in the exhibition contest.
The Leathernecks will open their regular season against Graceland in a 5 p.m. contest on Friday at John MacKenzie Alumni Field.
