FITCHBURG, Mass -- The Buccaneers men's soccer team traveled to Fitchburg Saturday afternoon to take on the Falcons in a pivotal regular-season conference match. A win for the Bucs and they secure the number one seed in the MASCAC Playoffs, a tie and they are the number two seed, and a loss would have seen them fall to number three. They found the middle ground as they tied with the Falcons thanks to an unfortunate late goal from the hosts, who were playing spoiler as their season was over regardless of the result. The game finished in a 2-2 draw.

The Basics

Final: Buccaneers 2, Falcons 2

Records: Maritime 10-4-3 (5-1-2)

               Fitchburg 4-10-4 (1-4-3)

Between the Pipes

Maritime: Preston Joia (T, 8-3-2): 5 SOG | 2 GA | 3 SV | 90 Mins

Fitchburg: Malcolm Edwards (T, 1-7-2): 14 SOG | 2 GA | 12 SV | 90 Mins

Inside The Numbers

Maritime

• Ryan Butzbach and Brody Calvert were the goal scorers for the Buccaneers.
• In total, Maritime took 25 shots and eight corner kicks.

Fitchburg

• Justin Job and Anthony Oliveira-Dalivandro each scored for the Falcons.
• Sam Amara was credited with an assist on the Job goal.
• In total, Fitchburg took 12 shots and four corners.

How It Happened

It took more than 37 minutes for either team to break the scoreless tie. Then, in the 38th minute, Job found the back of the net on a pass from Amara to put the Bucs behind, 1-0. Three minutes later, Butzbach scored his third of the season, unassisted, to tie the game up at 1-1 going to the break.

In the second half, Calvert gave the Buccaneers life with his 14th goal of the season in the 47th minute. The two teams' defenses held each other off as long as they could, and even though the Bucs outshot the Falcons 15-6 in the second half, it was the Falcons who scored next in the 84th minute, tying the match at 2-2. Maritime took an onslot of shots in the final five minutes of the game but could not break the tie, thanks to Edwards in goal for the Falcons. The game ended 2-2 with each team taking home a point.

What's Next

The Buccaneers get a bye in the first round of the MASCAC Playoffs next week and will host a semi-final game on Friday, November 7th at 7pm against either Westfield State, Salem State, or Anna Maria at Clean Harbors Stadium.