Ben Murphy stood in the penalty box ready to be in the moment.

Just three minutes after St. Charles North had taken a 2-1 lead over Geneva, the senior was looking to tie up the score once again in the 70th minute of play.

And while he heard plenty of chirping from the North Stars’ players from outside the box, the Viking didn’t really mind the pressure.

In fact, he loved it.

“I live for those types of moments,” Murphy said. “I knew I was gonna blast it in the net because I always score my (penalty kicks). So I was just thrilled, and then obviously happy that I was able to execute.”

Murphy’s second goal of the game proved to be enough, as the Vikings and North Stars couldn’t get another ball into the back of the net and settled for a 2-2 tie to start DuKane Conference play on Tuesday.

“I always feel like the game is evenly matched and the game always hinges on one or two little plays,” Vikings coach Jason Bhatta said. “It was just a good, competitive game, and it’s what it’s all about.”

It marks the third time in five years that the Vikings (3-2-2) and North Stars (2-3-1) have ended a game in a draw, with last year’s contest ending in a 1-1 slate to end DuKane Conference play.

Murphy also got the only goal in the first half for either team. After the Vikings corralled a throw-in into the box, he found a rebounded shot at his feet before sliding it into the net to give them the lead in the 24th minute.

“I just saw a bunch of people in front of me and just said that I was going to kick it and hope,” Murphy said. “I just saw it go through a bunch of legs and then everybody started yelling.”

But during the second half, the North Stars were ready to respond. Senior Wicho DelaPaz gave his team its first lead of the night in the 67th minute of play. After getting a free kick on the 40-yard line, the midfielder booted the ball over everyone waiting in the box, including the goalkeeper and into the goal.

And after initially trying to get an assist with the kick, all the captain could do when the ball went in was turn to his own bench and lift his hands up.

“It’s a surreal feeling when you score to give your team the lead in a hard game,” DelaPaz said. “But I was also a little surprised because I didn’t think it would go in. But I put my hands up because I was like ‘Hey, that works too.’ ”

Junior Oliver Longosz tied the game for St. Charles North earlier in the half when he tiptoed the baseline past three Geneva defenders before slotting the ball into the net by the far post in the 48th minute.

“The kid’s going to draw a lot of attention, and sometimes you’ve just got to stay patient and know that Oliver’s got a little bit of magic in him,” North Stars coach Eric Willson said. “It was good that we were able to get a couple of goals, and we’ll take what we did well and move forward with it.”

But after allowing the tying goal three minutes later, the North Stars went on full-defense mode to stop the Vikings from getting another, with goalkeeper Davis Hester making a key save on a corner kick with two minutes remaining to keep the game tied.

“I was really proud of the guys in the second half,” Willson said. “We weathered some storms, especially in the end there, in how we defended corners and kept the ball out of the net by any means necessary. Sure, we would’ve liked to close the game out after taking the lead, but I think we should be holding our heads up with how we played.”