SAINT LEO, Fla. – In the Sunshine State Conference (SSC) opener, the Saint Leo men's soccer team played to a 2-2 draw versus Palm Beach Atlantic on Saturday night at the Saint Leo Soccer Field.

Freshman Virgilio Escala put the Lions on the board within the first two minutes of the game. Escala laced his second goal of the season off a feed from classmate Luis Gaitan just inside the penalty box to the bottom left corner of the goal, 1-0. However, the Sailfish quickly countered and knotted the game to 1-1 following a goal from the center of the box two minutes later.

After stuffing a pair of corner kicks from Palm Beach Atlantic, the Green and Gold were on the attack as Escala found the net to give Saint Leo a 2-1 edge, this time off a dish from senior Edoardo Degl'Innocenti in the 30th minute. At intermission, the Lions maintained their 2-1 advantage.

In the second half, the Sailfish applied pressure to the Green and Gold by attempting a pair of shots with a corner kick. Palm Beach Atlantic tied the game at 2-2 after rebounding a saved shot attempt in the 78th minute. Junior Feres Sahid blasted an on-target attempt from 20 yards to the goal, however, the shot was saved and neither team registered a shot in the last minutes.

The Sailfish out shot Saint Leo 9-8 while the Lions held the edge with on-goal shots 7-4. Palm Beach Atlantic also led in the corner kick category 6-2.

Freshman goalkeeper James Knudson collected two saves in the complete-game effort.

The Lions are back on the pitch on Tuesday, September 24 as they travel to face Tampa in an SSC bout, starting at 7 p.m.