SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- The Northern Arizona soccer team responded quickly after ceding a goal to San Francisco and then held on for a 1-1 tie Friday night at Negoesco Stadium.
Freshman Haley Wingender put in her second goal of the season a mere 21 seconds after the home team struck first, putting the Lumberjacks in position to earn the tie and move to 1-4-1 in their first of two games of the weekend in northern California.
“Tonight we showed our resilience as a young group,” said NAU coach Andre Luciano. “I think for us to give up a goal and capitalize 21 seconds later shows how hungry this group is. We had some near-misses, but those are going to come. The important thing is that we put ourselves in position to score goals. Last year I think we fought not to lose a game, and tonight we came out and played like we wanted to win this game.”
The Dons got on the scoreboard first at the 16:07 mark when top scorer Mackenzie Kreiser netted her fourth goal of the season off an assist by Christina Moberg.
But the USF lead would be very brief, as a hand ball by the home team gave the Lumberjacks a free kick just seconds after the ensuing kickoff. Senior Georgia Foltz took the free kick, and Wingender got to it and found the equalizer at the 16:28 mark to tie the score.
San Francisco would control the tempo the rest of the first half and early portion of the second half. However, with neither team able to find the game winner, the teams headed to overtime, the first time this season NAU had reached extra time.
The Lumberjacks turned the tables on the Dons in overtime and were the aggressors. NAU outshot the home team 6-2 in the final 20 minutes and narrowly missed two chances to net the golden goal.
The first opportunity came just seconds before the end of the first overtime, when junior Elinor Priest had her initial shot saved by USF goalkeeper Madalyn Schiffel. But as Schiffel came charging out to make the stop, the shot ricocheted to freshman Demi Schmieder, and the Lumberjacks had a wide-open net only for Schimeder’s rebound shot to skip just wide to the right of the goal. NAU would have one more prime scoring chance toward the end of the second extra period in the 108th minute as Wingender had a slight breakaway. However, Wingender’s attempt also went just wide right, forcing the Lumberjacks to settle for a 1-1 draw.
San Francisco finished with a 15-13 advantage in shots, but the Lumberjacks outshot the Dons by a combined 10-8 following the intermission, including the aforementioned 6-2 advantage in the extra periods.
“We’re growing up a little more every game, and for us to go on the road in a different environment, it all started in the second half,” Luciano said. “We started taking away their attack in the second half, and that speaks volumes of our team’s resilience.”
Wingender recorded seven of the team’s 13 shots, marking a career high. Junior Lauren Weaver made her second start of the season in net and posted five saves while allowing just the one goal in the full 110 minutes.
