WASHINGTON, D.C.  —  The Catholic men's soccer team played in a key match against the top seed in the Landmark Conference tournament, Juniata, on Saturday afternoon in the final match of its regular season. The Cardinals came away with a late goal in the final minutes to earn a draw and clinch the second seed in the conference tournament next week.

Despite having a 7-1 shot advantage in the first half, the Cardinals were unable to find a breakthrough and the Eagles made the most of their one opportunity, finding the back of the net to take a 1-0 lead. Shawn Tanaka tallied his ninth goal of the season on an assist from Gio Amesti to send the Eagles soaring into the locker room with a 1-0 lead.

Catholic ramped up the pressure in the second half and held most of the possession without allowing Juniata to have another shot. The Cardinals took eight more shots in the first 35 minutes of the second half but were still unable to find an equalizing goal.

The Cardinals fortunes changed with just under seven minutes remaining in the contest. Ben Zimmer fired a shot on target that was spilled back into play by the Juniata keeper and landed right in the path of Michael Hanlon. Hanlon adjusted his body and guided his shot into the open goal for a late game-tying goal. 

Catholic prevented any attempts for Juniata to grab the lead back and earned a 1-1 draw to finish the regular season at 8-5-5 (5-0-4). The draw secured the Cardinals the second seed in the Landmark Conference tournament and a first round bye as they will now begin their quest for a second consecutive Landmark Conference championship.

Hanlon's goal was his first of the season, making him the 13th Cardinal to find the back of the net this season. It was Hanlon's third goal of his career and it brought his career point total to 10 and it's the first match winning goal of his career.

Owen Allegro, Charlie Paparella and Liam Giblin all played the full 90 minutes in the draw. The Cardinals have now completed three consecutive regular seasons without a defeat in Landmark Conference play. 

The Cardinals will play the winner of #3 Moravian and #6 Elizabethtown on Thursday, November 7 at Carlini Field. The first round of the tournament takes place on Tuesday, and kick off for Thursday's match will be at 7 pm.