OWENSBORO, Ky. - The Malone University women's soccer team traveled down to Owensboro, Kentucky on a cloudy Thursday night where they tied with the Kentucky Wesleyan College Panthers, 1-1. The goal was scored by
Nayeli Cruz with the assist by
Emily Bayles. The Pioneers are now 3-3-2 overall and 2-2-1 in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play. Kentucky Wesleyan now sits at 0-6-2 and 0-2-2 in league action.
The game started off with Malone trying to be the Pioneers of the pitch; exploring options and openings throughout the field. Attack after attack, Malone would find something in the 18-foot box and it would be cleared by the Panther defense. The Panthers would try to pounce on their own opportunities, but it would end in the same way.
The deadlock at nil would end when a corner kick from Bayles went to a wide-open Cruz who, with a quick tap, found the lower left corner of the net. The final 18 minutes of the first half continued as both teams had opportunities to score. Each drive would end with a clear, forced goal kick, or save by both defenses. The 1-0 score remained at the half.
The second half was full of Kentucky Wesleyan attacks. It was almost as if the opponents stole all the Pioneer momentum from the first half. Their constant attacks did lead to a goal in the 65th minute.
The final 25 minutes of the game were full of desperate attacks from both sides. Kentucky Wesleyan kept pouncing and pouncing on the ball to try to break the tie, but the Pioneer back line did not relent.
After all the desperate attempts from both sides, the fulltime score ended in a 1-1 draw. For the Pioneers, they had a total of seven total shots with four of them on-goal. In the saves category, besides the one goal allowed,
Amelia Henderhan (3-3-2) had three saves of her own despite the purple and grey attacks. Several Pioneers played all 90 minutes, including Henderhan,
Mya Foukas,
Eliza Wills,
Maya Najjar and
Raegan Radel.
The Pioneers will stay in Kentucky as they travel to Thomas More University where they hope to split the series at a 1:00 kickoff on Saturday, September 26.
