INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI men's soccer team played Western Illinois to an unfathomable 3-3 draw at Michael A. Carroll Stadium on Sunday (Sept. 4) as the two teams combined to tally three goals in the game's final four minutes. IUPUI rallied from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to pull even on a day in which they outshot the guests by a 20-8 margin. 

IUPUI (1-1-2) got a result on a day in which it appeared left for dead on multiple occasions. 

"It was absolutely an emotional roller coaster - it was craziness, it was entertaining," van Druenen said. "At the same time, we put ourselves in a position we shouldn't have put ourselves in, but we responded really well. The guys showed tremendous grit, heart and sweat and ability to go down 2-0, to get it to 2-2, then to concede right away and then straight up score to make it 3-3. 

"It was a game that we really don't want to be in too often."

The Jaguars were seemingly dead in the water after conceding a second goal in the 66th minute, giving the Leathernecks a 2-0 lead. However, IUPUI came off the mat in the 73rd minute when Josemir Gomez tallied his third goal of the season, rocketing a shot off the underside of the crossbar off a feed from Logan Finnegan. 

The IUPUI attack kept the pressure on, continually creating attempts, only to be stonewalled by WIU goalkeeper Alex Flowers on a number of occasions. With fouls and an assortment of players on each side fighting through cramps, the clock was seemingly frozen in time over the final five minutes as the game took a turn towards the absurd. 

Freshman Brady Horn pulled IUPUI even in the 87th minute, heading a shot past Flowers from a tough angle on a restart. Junior Lukas Hackaa played the free kick into danger to Ethan Vermillion, who headed the ball out wide to Horn for his first career score. 

Western Illinois (0-2-2) needed all of 33 seconds to retake the lead in the 88th minute when Xavier Brown angled a shot past IUPUI goalkeeper Bryson Najarian, quieting a raucous IUPUI contingent. The Jaguars followed suit with the day's final score though, tallying 18 seconds later when Vermillion drove a shot from the right side that went through Flowers' legs for his first collegiate score. 

IUPUI continued to push the pace over the final minute and had shots from both Vermillion and Hackaa fly just off target in the game's final 30 seconds. 

Vermillion, who played just 38 minutes off the bench, was a constant thorn in WIU's side, finishing with six shot attempts, putting three on frame. Gomez, who got off to a slow start on Sunday, closed with three shots, including two on target. 

"I'm super proud and honestly, it's non something that we knew we had," van Druenen said of his team's late scoring punch. "That's a massive strength you can have as a squad and it was done with guys who came off the bench. The fact that we have that in the locker, it does prove that we can still get a result, even when we start off not the best."

Najarian, making his IUPUI debut in goal, finished with a pair of saves. 

IUPUI will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 10 when the Jaguars open Horizon League play at Wright State at 5:00 p.m. on ESPN+.