SANTA CRUZ, Ca. – The UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs fought to a 2-2 tie with Southern California foe Whittier College on Friday morning. The Poets took the early advantage with two goals in the first half, but the Slugs controlled the second half, striking the back of the net twice with goals from Soren Groessl and Joaquin Greenberg. UCSC earned a narrow 10-9 advantage and earned seven corners to the Poets one. With the draw, the Slugs are now 2-0-1 on the young season and will back in action on Sunday, Sept. 8 when they travel to Occidental College at 7:30 p.m.
 
How It Happened
The Banana Slugs took the first shot of the contest, just over a minute into the contest but it was the Poets who struck first, scoring in the sixth minute to take a 1-0 lead. The following 40 minutes of action played out as a possession battle with Whittier having the better opportunities before finally connecting with just 44 seconds left in the half to take a 2-0 lead at the halftime break.
 
Out of the halftime break, the Banana Slugs immediately got to work, forcing a foul inside the box to earn a penalty kick just over two minutes into the second half. Soren Groessl stepped up to take the shot and delivered for UC Santa Cruz to cut the lead to 2-1 with a whole half of soccer remaining. From there, UCSC began to pressure more, earning three corners before connecting in the 70th minute with Joaquin Greenberg netting the equalizer with a shot to the far left post that got past the goalkeeper to make it 2-2. Both teams continued to build on the attacks in the final 20 minutes with the Banana Slugs recording six shots to the Poets four down the stretch. Despite the flurry of attempts from both teams, the Slugs and Poets ended things in a 2-2 tie after 90 minutes of action on the Lower East Field.
 
As mentioned, the Slugs will travel to Southern California to take on the Occidental Tigers on Sunday at 7:30 p.m.