Both CSU and the Mudgee Wombats are still searching for their first win of 2017 after the two sides were deadlocked at 22-all at Jubilee Oval on Saturday.
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A penalty goal at full time by Wombats fullback Lewis Fawcett pegged back the visitors, who had lead most of the match.
The students opened the scoring after the Wombats failed to clear the ball from their own end and Matt Dalton scored in the corner.
CSU once again trapped the home side at their own end, with a well weighted kick, which led to a try to Fraser McCormack.
Mudgee looked promising when they had the ball, but squandered two chances with a knock-on and a pass going out over the sideline.
Good movement and spreading the ball saw Fawcett eventually put Mudgee on the board.
A penalty to CSU at the Wombats' end led to Lincoln Sterling crossing and the visitors taking a 19-7 lead at half time.
Jack Keppel slotted a penalty goal for the students but from the kick off Mudgee's James Ford latched onto the bouncing ball to score under the posts.
Shortly after, an intercept by Tom O'Leary put the Wombats in good field position and winger Tukere Adams scored in the corner to take it to 22-19.
Both sides missing scoring opportunities, however a missed penalty to CSU proved costly.
The Wombats charged out of their own end, and a penalty for a knock down at the death led to Fawcett slotting the goal and drawing level.
“It's frustrating to go from a shot at goal for us and a miss to a penalty just inside our half and they knock it over,” CSU's Ben McNiven said.
“It's heartbreaking, these guys have put in a half a year of effort and to have that one taken away at the last minute is a tough one to swallow.
“But I'm really happy with the defence of the boys and the character they showed, [Mudgee] were camping on our line a fair bit and it's easy to fall into a rut but we turned it around every chance we got in that last quarter.”
Wombats coach Tony Muller said his side recovered well towards the end of the match.
“In the second half we played really well, we settled down and got a bit of structure about us and the team started to believe a little bit, then we just missed out,” he said.
“But to come back from 19-7 at half time and to win the second half 15-3 is a good sign.
“You could see it meant a lot to them, that bit of euphoria will hopefully help them to prepare for next weekend [against Parkes].
“We'll need to be better than we were today, but if we can play both halves like we played the second half then we'll make it a good contest.”
