Fayette, Mo. - The No. 1 seeded Central Methodist men's soccer program began conference play with a 2-2 draw against the No. 8 MidAmerica Nazarene Wednesday night in Fayette, Mo. 

Central now stands at 3-0-2 and 0-0-1 in the Heart, while the Pioneers are 3-1-2 and 0-0-1 in conference play. It also marks Central's first tie in conference play since the Eagles' drew against Missouri Valley back on Oct. 2, 2018 in Marshall, Mo. 

After a foul by Central inside the box, the Pioneers converted the penalty kick to take a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute. Freshman Liam Arthur responded quickly with a goal in 19th minute on the assist from Mark Csongradi. During the first half, CMU edged MNU in the offensive effort with six shots to four. 

In the 75th minute of play Tom Irion put CMU ahead on an unassisted goal. Irion was a key offensive threat thoughout the match, contributing four shots with two on goal. 

Guilherme Pereira, Stefano Campisi, and Jeremiah Johnson also contributed to Central's offensive efforts with multiple shots each. Yannick Schoeni made his second start in goal, tallying four saves in 90 minutes of action between the posts. 

However, the Pioneers were not deterred as they matched Central with a goal with just 30 seconds remaining, tying the match at 2-2. 

CMU returns to the pitch with another conference matchup againt Clarke University Saturday, Sept. 17 at 1:00 p.m. in Dubuque, Iowa. 

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