NEWBERG, Ore. – Despite an early two-goal lead the Linfield women's soccer team ended up having to settle for a 2-2 at George Fox Sunday afternoon.
The draw was a continuation of a historically even matchup between the cross-county rivals, with George Fox leading all-time by just one win at 24-25. Sunday's match was the ninth tie in between the two programs.
Linfield (3-1-2, 1-0-1) found themselves in the driver's seat early on thanks to an eighth minute goal from
Janae Lewis, her second successful chance of the year.
Lewis was assisted by sophomore
Jenna Stanley, her first of the season.
Stanley then put the Wildcats up by a pair with a goal of her own in the 40
th minute to give Linfield a cushion over the Bruins (2-2-2, 0-1-1) heading into the locker room.
Linfield found itself up two even though George Fox outshot the 'Cats 13-3 through the first half.
Stanley's goal was assisted on by fellow sophomore
Mia Curtaz, whose five assists on the season leads the Northwest Conference and matches her total from last year.
Stanley has now scored in three straight matches, and her three total points in the match set a new single-outing career best.
But a high-volume Bruin attack that totaled over 40 goals last season proved difficult to slow in the second half, with Becca Kozak scoring in the 52
nd minute to get George Fox on the board.
Just 11 minutes later Hanna Beardemphl followed Kozak by delivering the equalizer for the home side.
The final 27 minutes moved to a stalemate as the two teams combined for just three shots through the final moments.
Linfield keeper
Emilee Miller was able to preserve the tie for Linfield with clutch saves in the 83
rd and 89
th minutes, the latter coming with just 23 seconds to play.
On the day Miller saved 11 shots, facing 19. The draw moved her record to 2-0-1 for the season.
Linfield totaled seven shots on the day, with four on goal, compared to the Bruins' 19 with 13 on goal.
NEXT
The Wildcats will head to Portland on Saturday to battle Lewis and Clark (2-3, 1-0) at Griswold Stadium at noon.
From their Linfield will host 7 of its next 8 matches in McMinnville, beginning Sunday, Sept. 24 against defending conference champion Pacific Lutheran (3-2-1, 1-1).
