Anderson Battles to Draw with Mount St. Joseph

The Anderson University women's soccer team traveled to take on the Lions of Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, Ohio on Friday. The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) match between the Ravens and Lions went into double overtime, lasting the full 110 minutes and ended in a 1-1 tie.

The match started off slow for the Ravens (3-4-1, 3-4-1), only taking one shot in the first twenty minutes as the Lions (3-3-1, 3-3-1) were applying pressure on the Ravens defense. Mount St. Joseph took five shots before finding the back of the net in the 23rd minute with a goal by Jodie Weimer. The final 22 minutes saw the Ravens offense get three shot opportunities while the defensive end held the Lions to just one shot. Anderson headed into halftime trailing 1-0.

The Ravens came out of halftime looking to change the game around and apply more pressure on the Lions defense. Both teams went on to take four shots each. In the 65th minute, the Ravens got the tying goal they were looking for. Taylor Fort (Pendleton, Ind./Pendleton Heights) received the ball in the middle of the 18-yard box and took two touches to beat to Lions defender and struck the ball into the lower-right corner past the Lions' goalkeeper to tie up the game one goal each. Harper Manion (Lebanon, Ohio/Bishop Fenwick) helped set up Fort's goal.

"I was pleased how we continued to press them and battle back as it was a great combination by Harper and Taylor on the goal. We finally were creating chances to get behind and in the box and just missing the finishing piece on the other ones as we had our opportunities to pull ahead." Coach Jennifer Myhre had to say.

Over the final 25 minutes, both teams put up a tough fight while trying to find the winning goal, but fell short. At the end of regulation, the Ravens and Lions were tied up 1-1.

With overtime underway, both teams were giving everything they had left to get the golden goal. In the first 10 minutes of overtime, both teams combined for a total of three shots, with the Lions hitting one on frame. The final 10 minutes of play showed the exhaustion on both sides start to hit, neither team took a chance at goal before the final whistle blew signaling the end of the game.

It was a close game all around, with the Ravens recording a total of 14 shots, six on goal, while the Lions had 15 shots, nine on goal. Goalkeepers Elizabeth Graham (Riverside, Ohio/Carroll) and Mallory Housman (Evansville, Ind./Memorial) both made four critical saves to keep the Ravens alive. Jessica Pulaski (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) and Isabella Trader (Eaton, Ohio/Eaton) led the Ravens with three shots each, with Pulaski taking two on goal.

Friday's match marked the end of the HCAC regular-season play. The Ravens will once again travel to Cincinnati, Ohio for postseason play on Thursday to take on the Lions for a fifth-place battle in the HCAC. The match is set to start at 7PM at Schueler Field.

"We look forward to fine-tuning our play and coming back next week to finish the season strong."