Centre Women's Soccer took on Southwestern at Amend Field on Saturday, looking to pick up points in the race for SAA Tournament seeding. The Colonels had the bulk of chances on the day, but lady luck was not on their side as Centre had to settle for a 1-1 draw.
Alexis Kronenthal had a chance for the Colonels in the 3rd minute, but her shot was knocked away before it could reach the bottom corner of the net. Centre kept the pressure on with 2 corners and a
Riley Givens miss in the first 8 minutes of play. Givens nearly had a goal in the 15th minute but a leaping stop by the Pirate keeper kept the game scoreless. Centre's best chance of the half came in the 22nd minute. As the Southwestern keeper came off the 6-yard line,
Mary Martin Hampton lifted a shot over the keeper's head, but the ball ricocheted off the crossbar and angled straight down. Before the ball could cross the goal line, the Pirates were there clear it away. The Colonels kept threatening, nearly scoring again in the 32nd minute. Off a corner kick and amongst a mass of humanity, the ball bounced around inside the goal box.
Claire Cavacini and
Grace Plummer nearly had goals, but Southwestern's center backs were there to block both tap-in tries, still keeping the game scoreless as the game reached halftime.
Kronenthal and
Meg Ralston had the first two viable threats for the Colonels in the 2nd half but again were turned away. Southwestern finally found a time with possession and took advantage in the 66th minute as a strike from the left side of the 18-yard box scooted by
Madeline Redmon in goal to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead, despite Centre being in control most of the day to that point.
Centre kept pressing as it earned 3 corner kicks in just 58 seconds in the 75th and 76th minutes. The pressure kept coming into the 80th minute where the Pirates were called for a foul inside the box, setting up a penalty kick. Kronenthal headed to the spot looking for the tie. The PK was stopped, but
Brooke Beasley charged into the box to slam home the rebound and level the match at 1 with just over 10 minutes to play. Centre got 4 more shots off before the final horn, but none were on target, leaving the Colonels to settle for a single point.
The Colonels dominated the ball, outshooting the Pirates 28-6 overall and 9-3 on goal. Centre also racked up a staggering 13-2 edge on corners but could not come away with the win.
Centre will look for the full 3 points on the final home weekend of the season against Berry. The action gets going on Friday night at 6:00pm.
