EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Lindenwood men's soccer (1-3-2, 0-0-0 OVC) picked up a point in the standings as they finish Wednesday's match with a 2-2 draw at Missouri Valley opponent Evansville (2-2-2, 0-0-0 MVC). Lions had 12 shots and four shots on goal in the tie.

"I loved our guys fighting spirit. We showed up to play tonight," said head coach Kris Bertsch. "We got popped first, but great response by us in the first half. The fighting spirit was tremendous."

Both teams were very even in the first half as the score was 1-1 after the first 45 minutes of play. The Lions had five shots in the first half compared to seven by the Aces of Evansville. Both goalies also with a pair of saves at the end of the first.

Evansville struck in the 18th minute of play as Kai Phillip scored in the top right of the net against Lindenwood's goalie Gavin Roberts (assisted by David Hernandez). Parker Smith evened the match with his first of two goals on the night during the 35th minute of play. Smith hit a defender with his first shot then recovered the ricochet to score. Luke Neely and Ethan Blake had shots on goal in the first half.

Lindenwood and Evansville both had similar shot totals in the second half of play with the Lions picking up seven and the Aces earning eight. Roberts had three of his five saves come in the second 45 minutes of Wednesday's match.

Smith put the Lions up 2-1 after his second goal of the evening during the 55th minute as he snuck it in at the bottom right of the net past goal keeper Jacob Madden. Lindenwood would hold the lead for less that 20 minutes when the Ace's Nkosi Graham scored in the 74th minute.

Both teams made runs late in the match to try and sneak out a victory, but the match remained a 2-2 tie at the end of regulation. Evansville had eight corner kicks in the match while the Lions had none. Henrique Perestrelo also had three shot attempts in the draw.

"The personnel stepped up. We made some tactical changes in the game and that allowed us to fight and compete. I was really proud of our efforts with the guys off the bench," said Bertsch.

Lindenwood will be back in action on Sunday, Sept. 17 at 12:00 p.m. CT as they travel to Syracuse, N.Y. to take on new Division I opponent Le Moyne College. For more updates go to lindenwoodlions.com.