BLUE BELL, Pa. - In a battle of perennial EPAC powerhouse programs, Northampton and Montgomery battled for 90 minutes before settling for a 2-2 tie on Tuesday afternoon at Dunbar Field. 

After a number of early opportunities, the Spartans opened the scoring at the 23:11 mark, as Gershon Bangura (Greencastle, PA/Greencastle) deposited an Elijah Ejiofor (Gonesse, France/Pocono Mt. West) pass into the Mustang goal, beating Gazmir Cepele on his left side, for a 1-0 lead. 

The Spartans would retain the 1-0 advantage into halftime, as the Northampton defense, led by Kaden Dowd (Bangor, PA/Bangor), Cael Anderko (Bath, PA/Northampton), Moize Baraka (DRC Congo/William Allen) and Wisdom Ntona (Johannesburg, South Africa/Queens), continually stifled the Mustang attack. 

Montgomery struck quickly in the second half, as Connor Budniak connected on a direct kick just 2 minutes into the second half, tying the game at 1-1.

3 minutes later Gershon Bangura (Greencastle, PA/Greencastle) was fouled in the box and the Spartans were awarded a penalty kick, which Elijah Ejiofor (Gonesse, France/Pocono Mt. West) converted to put the Spartans up 2-1.  The goal was Ejiofor's 11th of the season. 

Northampton held the lead for just 4 minutes, as Montgomery received a penalty kick and Chris Simmons converted, tying the contest at 2-2.

The two EPAC rivals would battle back and forth for the final 37 minutes with Montgomery gaining momentum, but the Spartans were able to hold their ground and earn the draw. 

Omar Zatar (Paterson, NJ/Pocono Mt. West) recorded 2 saves for the Spartans. 

The tie moves Northampton to 5-1-1 overall, 4-1-0 in Region 19 and 2-0-1 in the EPAC.

Montgomery is now 3-0-2 overall, 3-0-2 in the Region and 2-0-1 in conference play. 

The Spartans are back on the road on Thursday when they travel to north Jersey to face Sussex County Community College at 3:30pm.