WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Trine University women's soccer team battled through hot conditions to secure another draw for the season, this time by the score of 1-1 against their hosts from Otterbein University.
"It was a hot one and we may not have gotten the result we wanted, but we worked hard right from the start," said senior Lia Franzone, "We made them work for it and now we will move forward and keep growing."
The two teams traded shots during the first 10 minutes of the contest. The first went to the Cardinals and forced junior Sophie Aschemeier to make her first save of the day. The second went in favor of the Thunder and ended up being the lone of their shots in the period to force a save.
A Trine foul in the 17th minute of play gave Otterbein a penalty kick but Aschemeier was up to the task coming up with her second save of the day. She finished the first half with three saves to keep the score tied at zero.
After the opening flurry of activity both teams settled in and were perhaps affected by the heat with neither team forcing action on goal. The Thunder made one last pushing in the final seconds of the half with freshman Abigail Marks firing a final shot toward net that was turned aside by a defender.
The Thunder came out of the intermission with renewed life. Near the ten-minute mark of the half junior Bella Mabry made the first shot of the half for the team going just over the crossbar. A minute later sophomore Abby Robison forced a team save from the opposition with the rebound staying in front of the net. Mabry made a pass back to Robison who finished the play off with a goal.
The 1-0 lead was under duress from the start with the Cardinals returning shots against Aschemeier just minutes later. The Trine keeper was up to the task however and held the opposition scoreless through the barrage. She finished the game with six saves.
It wasn't quite enough, however, with the home side coming up with the equalizing goal in the final minutes of play. The 1-1 score would eventually go final.
"It's always tough to go on the road midweek against a top tier opponent," said head coach Gary Boughton, "I felt we put some moments of our best soccer together today, but I know we're disappointed coming home with just a tie."
The Thunder finish the day with an 1-0-2 record following the second draw of their season.
"It's early on, and with such limited time in the preseason, we're putting the pieces together," continued Boughton, "I'm excited for us to be at home for the first time this weekend and the energy that comes with that."
The team will open the home side of their schedule beginning on Friday, September 8 at 6 p.m. when they are set to host Ohio Wesleyan University.