BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The NCC men's soccer team opened the 2012 campaign with a 2-2 tie vs. Delaware County Community College on Thursday afternoon.

DCCC's Mohamed Bah got the Phantoms on the board first, converting a direct kick from just outside the box, 15 minutes into the the contest to give Delaware a 1-0 advantage.

NCC's Jose Matute evened the contest 20 minutes later off a through pass from Tyler Garr, beating a defender and converting his first collegiate goal.

Matute scored his 2nd goal of the game with just over 3 minutes remaining in the first half to give the Spartans a 2-1 advantage at the break.

NCC, which outshot Delaware 14-7, dominated play in the second half, but DCCC was awarded a penalty kick with just 1:29 remaining in the game and Mohamed Bah converted the attempt to tie the game.

The teams battled through two scoreless overtime periods to end in a 2-2 deadlock.

"It's somewhat disappointing to earn a tie after being so close to a victory," remarked first year NCC head coach Joe Heitczman, "but in the big picture I think we learned alot about ourselves and ultimately this will help make us a better program."

NCC goalkeeper Ronald Mendzibal recorded 4 saves in his first collegiate game.

Northampton, which hosts Montgomery County Community College on Tuesday September 4th at 3:30pm, moves to 0-0-1 overall, 0-0-1 in Region XIX and 0-0-1 in EPAC play.

Delaware County is 0-0-1 overall, 0-0-1 in Region XIX and 0-0-1 in the EPAC.