Lancaster Bible and Cairn renewed their men's soccer rivalry on Tuesday afternoon at Charger Field and for the fifth time in eight meetings overtime was needed, but 110 minutes of soccer was not enough to determine a winner and the teams settled for a 1-1 tie. The Chargers are now 1-0-2 this season, while Cairn is now 3-2-1. 

Tuesday's game was a typical Lancaster Bible-Cairn game as it was physical and a battle throughout, but it was strange in the way that it seemed Lancaster Bible had the majority of the possession, but thanks to Paul Franco's goal at the 12:32 mark, the Highlanders held the lead for the majority of the game. Franco's goal came off a corner kick as the Chargers were unable to clear the ball off the initial cross and Franco was able to collect the ball and score into the lower right-hand corner of the goal. 

From that point, Lancaster Bible had the majority of the possession and scoring chances, however much of the possession came in the middle of the field and the scoring chances were few and far between. One of those chances came with 11 minutes remaining in the first half as Jared Steiner found himself in open space in the box, but Cairn goalkeeper Mike Warren made the first of his two great saves on the day to keep the Highlanders ahead 1-0. 

As the minutes ticked away in the second half, the Chargers pressed more and more and finally began to get better chances. With just under 20 minutes to play, the Chargers earned a corner kick and off of senior Josiah Groff's cross, fellow senior Brian Edman, who stands at 6'3", jumped and towered over everyone to get a head on the ball and deposit it in the back of the net. The goal was Edman's first as a member of the Chargers, while the assist was Groff's first of the year and eighth of his career.

Both teams had chances to win the game late, but time ran out and overtime was once again needed. In addition to Tuesday, the teams went to overtime during the regular season in 2012 (1-1) and also needed overtime in the NCCAA East Region Final in 2013, 2011 and 2010. None of those three games were decided in overtime, but rather in penalty shootouts.

Tuesday's game appeared it was going to break the mold as the Chargers earned a penalty kick late in the first overtime. However, Warren came up with his second great save at the biggest point of the game as he dove to his left and stopped Nathan Grimley's attempt to keep the overtime period going. Both teams had a shot in the second overtime, but neither could find the back of the net and for the seventh time in the 60-game series between the two teams, the game ended in a tie.

Lancaster Bible Head Coach Tom Ardt was pleased the team came back to tie the game, but said more is needed from everyone over the course of the game.

"It was a good physical game and I liked our composure, but we need to find the back of the net and be more dangerous with the ball," Ardt said. "We need more leadership and a commanding presence from everyone on the team."

Lancaster Bible held a 17-7 edge in shots, while Cairn had a 6-5 advantage on corner kicks. 

The Chargers will now prepare for North Eastern Athletic Conference play which opens on Friday when Lancaster Bible hosts Wells at 3 p.m. Keuka will visit Charger Field on Saturday for a 1 p.m. game. 

"Today's game was good preparation for what we will experience this weekend," Ardt said. "We are ready to play two good teams in Wells and Keuka and hopefully we can begin conference play on a positive note."

Notes:
-Lancaster Bible now has an all-time record of 12-41-7 against Cairn.

-Jared Steiner had a team-high three shots on goal on Tuesday.