VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia -- The Baldwin Wallace University men's soccer team tied North Carolina Wesleyan College, 2-2 in double overtime, n the championship match at the Virginia Wesleyan College Marlin Invitational.  The Yellow Jackets opened tourney play yesterday with a 2-1 win against host Virginia Wesleyan and had a 1-0-1 record.

The Yellow Jackets, now 2-1-1 overall, played for their second tournament title in two weeks. Last weekend, BW beat SUNY-Fredonia (N.Y.) but lost to host Penn State-Behrend (Pa.) in that championship match.

BW opened the scoring and took a 1-0 lead at the 23:17 mark when junior midfielder Michael Brennan (Akron/Walsh Jesuit) scored his second goal of the season via an assist from junior Nick Gallo (Richfield/ Revere). The assist was Gallo's third in two matches at VWC.  Brennan took the open pass and buried the the 10-yard shot into the right side of the net.

NCWC tied the match at 1-1 at 30:25 when junior defender Torben Vennemann scored via an assist from freshman defender Torben Thorfinnsson off a corner.  Vennemann headed the ball past by senior goalie Tyler Beaton (Bemus Point, N.Y./Maple Grove) from five yards away.  The score reamined tied at halftime.

The Battling Bishops took a 2-1 lead at the 55:23 mark when they were credited with an own goal.

Undaunted, the Yellow Jackets tied the score at 2-2 at the 73:09 mark when senior defender Ashkon Bahrami (Newark) scored from 10 yards out when his shot rebounded off a NCWC defender and into the goal.  It was his first goal of the season.

Both 10-minute overtime sessions were scoreless.

In goal Beaton faced 18 shots, including eight on-goal, allowed two goals and made six saves and is now 2-1-1 overall.

The Battling Bishops outshot the Yellow Jackets by an 18-14 count, but BW had a 7-3 advantage in corner kicks.

BW is back in action on Wednesday, Sept. 11 when they host cross-town rival Case Western Reserve University on Tressel Field at The George Finnie Stadium at 7:00 p.m.  Next Saturday, Sept. 14, the BW men and women play a doubleheader at Grove City (Pa.) College.  

FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at [kruple@bw.edu]kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at [jefmille@bw.edu]jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest B-W athletics information at www.bwyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.