The Waynesburg University men’s soccer team hosted the Chatham College Cougars on Wednesday, Oct. 15 and created some second half ruckus to tie the Cougars.

The Jackets fell behind quickly, letting up a goal in the first four minutes of the match. The Cougars continued to increase their lead, scoring another goal just about 30 minutes into the match.

However, this is when Waynesburg made it interesting starting off with sophomore Sarpong Kwabiah scoring off a penalty kick in the 62nd minute.

“We had a chip on our shoulders to prove that we were the better team in every aspect of the game,” Kwabiah said. “We will keep solving the soccer problems and keep the intensity going.”

The Yellow Jackets tallied another goal later in the match, scored by junior Braden Esbenshade, assisted by freshman John Engel. This secured the tie for the Jackets, gaining a point in the conference.

“We needed a spark, and we had guys bring the energy and quality up,” Esbenshade said. “That really helped everyone get going in the second half.”

Waynesburg now sits seventh in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference with a 7-4-3 overall record and 2-2-3 in conference play. They have nine PAC points, just behind three other schools with 10.

They play the Franciscan Barons this Saturday who are second in the conference with a 6-1 conference record.

Despite the next three matches being on the road Esbenshade believes the team is still in a great mindset to compete.

“We know we are not in a great spot with this next stretch of games coming up,” Esbenshade said. “We have to have a really strong mindset to prepare, and to start this stretch off with really good momentum.”

Kickoff for the game against Franciscan is at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday Oct. 18.