FORT WAYNE, Ind. - On Saturday afternoon the University of Saint Francis Cougars (1-0-1) traveled to Elsah, Illinois to wrap up their weekend trip to Illinois when they faced off against the Principia College Panthers (0-0-1) and after trailing 2-0 to open the game, rallied back to earn a 2-2 tie. 

As the game got underway, the Cougars sent freshman goalkeeper Joe Deitering to the net in an effort to continue his reign as he did the other night in the season opening win against Greenville. Throughout the early going neither team was able to gain a significant edge with minimum drives towards the net. 

The first half came to a close with the game a scoreless tie with only six shots taken by the Cougars and four for the Panthers with none of the shots on goal. 

Heading into the second half, both teams kicked it up a notch. 

The Cougars began controlling the ball with more regularity eventually tallying 16 shots during the frame. However, the tide turned against Saint Francis in the early minutes of the second half and they knocked the ball past Deitering to break the scoreless tie. 

Just a few minutes later in the 61st minute, they doubled their lead and the Cougars were in dire straights needing to comeback. 

But the Cougars were not discouraged, they were determined and fought back to get themselves on the scoreboard in the 70th minute when junior midfielder Daniel Eleuterio put it in the net to cut the deficit in half. 

About 10 minutes later, junior midfielder Enrique Subiran passed the ball down the field to junior midfielder Mateo Abella and completed a successful drive as Abell found the net to tie the score at two. 

After that, a couple more threats went to no avail as the Cougars earned the tie and three total points in their opening two games. 

Throughout the game, Deitering had to only make two saves against two goals allowed while the Cougars managed eight shots on goal with six of them being saved. 

The Cougars resume play on Wednesday evening when they come home to Bishop D'Arcy Stadium for their season home opener when they faceoff against the Claumet College of Saint Joseph Crimson Wave with kickoff set for 8:00 pm. 

Cougar fans, stay updated with all events and recaps with USF Athletics by visiting Saintfranciscougars.com or by downloading the Saint Francis Cougars app.