BETHEL —It was the same old, same old for the Mt. Abram and Telstar boys’ soccer teams Wednesday afternoon. For the second time, the MVC foes settled for a tie this season.

Each team scored goals minutes apart in the second half of regulation, but two overtimes wasn’t enough as the Roadrunners and Rebels ended their dispute in a 1-1 tie. It was almost deja-vu because Telstar had also come from behind to tie Mt. Abram 1-1 in Salem last month.

There was plenty on the line. Mt. Abram and the Rebels were ranked seventh and eighth, respectfully, in Western Class C Heal Points.

“My guys played hard for 90 minutes,” Telstar coach Greg Luetje said. “We only used one sub, so ten of them played the entire 90 and were well conditioned, but they are tired. They showed a lot of heart and desire because they came back to tie the game.”

Telstar (6-3-2) had tied the game on a goal by Nik Conrad on a designed play with 15:49 left in regulation. Casey Thornton carried the ball down the left side and sent a crossing pass to Conrad on the right wing, and he booted a sliding kick high over Roadrunner goalie Josh Beedy (10 saves) into the far corner of the net.

Telstar was advancing into a blinding sun, but noticed the Roadrunners were crowding one side of the field. They adjusted during halftime and Thornton’s rush set things in motion.

“That was a good rush,” Luetje said. “(Conrad) has to crash the weak side and get to the post. He needs to anticipate this is going to happen from about the 50-yard line and just go.”

Mt. Abram (2-4-6) drew first blood on a goal by Noah Zanella with 23:09 left in the second half. Matthews kicked the ball at Telstar goalie Rick James (nine saves), who stepped up to attempt a basket catch, but the ball bounced away and Matthews alertly followed his shot. Matthews slid the ball over to Zanella who had an open left side of the net.

“That’s our sixth tie,” said Mt. Abram coach Mark Lopez, whose team has struggled to score goals. “We needed to take the ball to the net and (utilize) crossing passes. But you have to credit Telstar because they really were good at getting back on the ball.”

The Roadrunners scored their goal while Beedy was sitting out 10 minutes after drawing a yellow card for tackling the Rebels Nick Mills on a rush. Replacement goalie Jake Riendeau, who was on defense, recorded a big save on Dan Vaughn.

Each team received solid played by their respective defenses and were able to clear shots away. The Rebels’ Tyler Brown, Dusty Bailey, and Josh Bellinger each rotated back. The Roadrunners’ Jamey Howard and Will London each stepped up early on to clear shots out of the crease.

“We started out slow,” Lopez said. “My juniors had PSAT testing and the sophomores had testing also, and it was six minutes before they figured out we were in a game,  but my kids are resilient because they fought until the end.”

In the first extra session, the Roadrunners Ian James booted a shot over the cross bar and Vaughn was stopped by Beedy.