Posted: Oct 04, 2017
BEREA, Ohio – Facing last year's Ohio Athletic Conference tournament champions, the Baldwin Wallace University women's soccer team overcame a one-goal deficit to tie the University of Mount Union 1-1 in double overtime.
BW's (8-3-1, 1-0-1 OAC) streak of scoreless soccer came to an end in the 19th minute when junior midfielder Nicole Lanese finally broke through the barrier. Sophomore goalkeeper Emma Bruno (Pittsburgh, Pa./Bethel Park) saved an initial shot from freshman midfielder Brittany McCauley but Lanese was in the right place at the right time and put the rebound into the back of the net.
Mount Union (6-3-1, 0-1-1 OAC) could have had a 2-0 advantage in the 29th minute but the Purple Raiders were offsides, negating the would-be goal.
At halftime, the two teams were pretty evenly matched in terms of statistics as BW held the slight advantage in shots 6-5.
In the second half, the Yellow Jackets played more aggressively, gave Mount very little space to play in and controlled the pace thanks to the return of senior midfielder Anna Poptic (Dublin/Jerome) and junior forward Marissa Fabrizi (Brunswick) from injury.
Senior two-time All-OAC forward Alex Elliott (Blacklick/IMG Academy) tied up the score in the 61st minute when she rebounded a shot by junior two-time All-OAC and Academic All-OAC forward Rachel Bender (Massillon/Jackson) that hit the crossbar, scoring her ninth goal of the season.
While the Yellow Jackets outshot the Purple Raiders 16-7 in the second half, the game required overtime to be decided. Each team had opportunities to score the golden goal as BW took seven shots across both periods and Mount took six. Paige Freel made four of her nine saves in overtime while Bruno only had to record one save in extra time.
BW will continue Ohio Athletic Conference play on Saturday when it travels to take on Wilmington College on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.
