AC St. Louis gave up two goals after the 86th minute and let what looked like a win slip away but managed to escape with a 2-2 tie against the NSC Minnesota Stars on Wednesday in Blaine, Minn.

Chris Salvaggione helped set up the first goal and scored the second as AC St. Louis ran its unbeaten streak to three games, but missed a chance for its first back-to-back wins in Division 2 league games and an opportunity to climb out of last place for the first time. Goalie Alec Dufty saved a penalty kick just before halftime for AC St. Louis.

Salvaggione made a run in the 43rd minute, laid the ball off to Mark Bloom who crossed to Jeff Cosgriff for the goal. In the 66th minute, Salvaggione put in a pass from Luke Kreamalmeyer on a give-and-go. In first-half injury time, Dufty leaped to his right to get his hand on a penalty kick after Troy Cole was called for a handball in the box. Down 2-0 and with time running out, Minnesota scored off a corner kick in the 86th minute and then another in the first minute of added time.

Even though AC St. Louis got a point out of the game, they were so close to getting three, which would have moved them out of sixth and into fifth place in the NASL Conference and been a point behind fourth-place Baltimore.

"This is a tough," coach Dale Schilly said. "Giving goals away at the end is tough. The quality of soccer we played, the effort we had in the first 25, 30 minutes of the second half, showed this team is capable of doing. Then we hit the goal post, which could have made it 3-0 at that point, and then it was a matter of the other team getting direct. It's hard for us physically to compete against teams that play that way. Then it comes down to whether they hit the target or not."

AC St. Louis lost Gauchinho to a groin pull in the first half and the team will find out Friday what his status is for the immediate future. His absence, and the team's stamina on a hot, humid night were factors in their demise.

"For sure fatigue became a part of it," Schilly said. "Not having Gauchinho in the game hurt us. When we needed to find away out, to find someone's feet and have them hold it and let us relax for a bit in the back, (not having that) hurt us. Once we hit the goalpost, they realized they were still in it. We were dominant at that stage, and once that didn't go in, they started pumping the ball in the box and we had to deal with it. We were getting tired. We've had a tough stretch.

Schilly had a brief meeting with his players after the game and they were understandably disconsolate.

"Everyone was disappointed," Schilly said. "Our expectations have changed, and that's a very positive thing. Before, to get a draw was OK. Now expectations are beginning to change and they're gutted. To not get three points out of this one, we'll get it turned around. It will hurt tonight but tomorrow we'll figure out a way to make it better."

If there's a bright side, it's that AC scored two goals in the game, giving them five in their past two games. The team has scored just 13 goals all season.

"We're creating chances," Schilly said. "That's a good thing."