HOUGHTON, NY—
Bailey Shattell (Syracuse, NY, Faith Heritage) scored the tying goal with less than two minutes to play, and the Houghton College women's soccer played to a 1-1 draw with the Hartwick College Hawks.
The tie puts the Highlanders at 4-5-2 on the season and 0-2-2 in the Empire 8. Hartwick now stands at 8-2-1 overall and 2-1-1 in the Empire 8.
Though both sides traded opportunities throughout the first half, the Hawks took the lead in the 29
th minute when Madison Miller lofted a ball over the back line of defense to Allie Ricci, which flicked the ball over the keeper's head for her first goal of the season.
"We lacked intensity in the first half," commented Houghton coach David Lewis. "I told the girls at halftime that we need to play
our style. We were trying to be too direct."
The Hawks nearly put the game away just over 10 minutes into the second half when Miller nailed a header toward the Houghton goal, but an outstanding defensive save by
Esther Webb (Houghton, NY, Fillmore Central HS) kept the game knotted at one.
Both teams battled in the midfield throughout the half as the Highlanders gradually increased their level of intensity.
Then in the 89
th minute Webb received a pass in the back and played a long, driven ball over the defense. Shattell took a quick touch to settle the ball forward, then placed a perfect shot over the keeper into the far-post side-netting.
No close game is complete with a potential game-changing moment. That moment came in the opening minutes of the second extra period.
After a short buildup by the Hawks, Casey Boucher dribbled through three defenders into the box where she hit a low, hard shot to the opposite post. Highlanders' goalkeeper
Shawna Sprout (Portville, NY, Portville Central) read the ball well, dove to her left and collected the shot to preserve the tie. It would be Sprout's only save of the day.
With only one day to rest, the Highlanders return to Burke Field on Monday, October 12 to take on the Elmira College Soaring Eagles at 7:00 p.m.
