Atherton, CA- On Saturday afternoon, the Arizona Christian and Menlo men's soccer teams were evenly matched as they played to a 0-0 double overtime tie.  The point earned for the tie still helps the ACU cause for a playoff berth.

Based on the first eight minutes of the contest, a 0-0 draw definitely did not seem on the horizon.  Both teams took one shot- high from Menlo and wide by Sophomore Alex Segura- in the first two and half minutes of the game.  The Oaks (6-5-2, 2-3-1 GSAC) first real opportunity of the day saw Junior Brian Booker up to the challenge for the save.  Senior Alonso Quintero had maybe the best chance for the Firestorm (7-5-1, 2-3-1 GSAC) when he hit a shot needing a save at the 7:46 mark.

However, over the course of the final 37 minutes of the first half action stayed primarily between the goal boxes.  ACU would not take another shot and Menlo managed only two (neither on target) in that time frame.

Half number two saw the shooting pick up a little more as Arizona Christian attempted seven versus the four for Menlo.  Eight of those 11 shots came in the first 15 minutes of the second half.  Booker deflected a shot on goal out of play for his lone second half save.

Junior Anthony Archuleta had a header saved in the 76th minute and Junior Luis Bobadilla saw his shot blocked in the 88th minute.

In the first overtime, Junior Roberto Valenzuela sent a shot high and Bobadilla once again had a shot blocked.  That turned out to be the last shot taken by ACU.

The Oaks attempted the lone shot of the second overtime but it too was blocked.

When the scoreboard reached zero for the final time, Arizona Christian and Menlo found themselves both tied for fifth in the GSAC standings with their seven overall GSAC points.  The top six teams advance to the GSAC playoffs.

Kudos to the ACU backline- Senior Ryan Scarpulla, Junior Carlos Morales, Sophomore Andrew Archuleta, and Freshman Alberto Valtierra, Jr.- as they helped the Firestorm record their first shutout of the season.  Ironically, it was the also first time that ACU was shutout offensively in 2017.

Head Coach Andrew Belleman stated, "I am proud of how the guys played defensively this weekend. The guys are learning how to compete together in these tough conference games.  This is a very positive weekend for the team and hope we can continue to build on it."

The Firestorm will return home for their final non-GSAC match of the year when they travel to Ottawa (AZ) on Thursday.  The match at will be played at Arizona State West in Glendale at 7:30 pm.