Photo Courtesy of Susquehanna Athletics
By Thamoda Haputhanthri
The Susquehanna Women’s Soccer team picked up their second draw of the season after a 1-1 result against Drew with a late equalizer Saturday at Sassafras Fields.
Coming into this game, Drew (4-2-5 Overall, 2-0-2 Landmark) sat unbeaten in the Landmark Conference, with the River Hawks (8-3-2 Overall, 1-1-2) coming off a win against Wilkes which snapped a three-game losing streak.
Susquehanna opened the game with confidence, stretching the defense wide and finding gaps of space through the center.
After an onslaught of pressure, junior Ava Billmeyer would find fellow junior Amelia Kopp to tuck away her 7th goal of the season.
The goal tied Kopp for first in the Landmark Conference in goals scored this season, with Lycoming’s Ella Magee joining her as the conference leaders.
The game would settle down after the opener, but the River Hawks’s consistent press defense signaled a real control over the game as they looked for their second goal. Despite several efforts, Susquehanna would go into halftime with the one goal advantage.
Out of the gate in the second half, the narrative of the game seemed to shift. The game became more of a scrappy affair, with a higher level of physicality.
The Rangers took this new confidence into their stride, as they outshot the River Hawks and created chance after chance.
Midway into the second half, a goal felt almost inevitable for either team, but the matchup was so balanced, the momentum could shift either way any moment.
However, Drew’s pertinent effort finally made it through, as with seven minutes remaining on the clock, senior Ella Reyngoudt would take advantage of a conundrum in the penalty box and beat Susquehanna goalie Katie Henchy to square up the game at one apiece.
Both teams following the equalizer, threw the kitchen sink in a valiant effort to find a winner, however after 90 minutes, the score remained 1-1.
For Susquehanna the tie feels like this yet another missed opportunity to come away with three points in Landmark play.
“When you give a good team too many opportunities to hang on your field, they’re going to take advantage, they did and they deserved to tie that game,” Susquehanna Head Coach Nick Hoover said.
The story of the box score spelled out a close, physical affair. Drew ended up outshooting Susquehanna with 13 shots, eight of which were on target. The River Hawks shot 12 times, with only five on goal, as Henchy recorded seven saves
Both teams totaled 16 fouls in the game, with Drew accounting for 11 of them.
Susquehanna has five more games of Landmark play remaining to qualify for the playoffs which start Oct 31. The River Hawks will be back in action to host Juniata College at Sassafras Fields on Wednesday at 7 p.m.