PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania women's soccer team repeatedly knocked on the door, but just couldn't find the winner in a 1-1 draw with Fairfield at Rhodes Field on Friday night.
After both sides struggled to get anything going offensively in the first half, Penn struck first in the 48th minute when Emily Sands slipped Breukelen Woodard in behind for a calm, slotted finish. The lead lasted less than 10 minutes, though, as Fairfield equalized in the 58th minute off a corner.
NOTES
*Penn outshot Fairfield 15-8 through 110 minutes of action, the most shots accounted for this season.
*The Quakers also racked up an impressive 12 corners, another season high. Fairfield finished with four, scoring off of one.
*Breukelen Woodard scored the first goal her season. Last year she scored once and added two assists.
*With her assist, Emily Sands now has three points in three games this year.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first half was tough sledding for both sides as the rain fell. Penn and Fairfield combined for just four shots through the first 45 minutes; the Quakers accounted for three of those shots, but never constructed a quality chance to earn a goal. Penn's best opportunity came when Paige Howard threaded a pass in behind the Stags' defense to Emily Sands. Sands managed to get to the ball but never created enough space to unleash a shot.
Despite an uneventful first half, the Red and Blue wasted no time after the halftime break. In the 48th minute, Sands won the ball within a pack of players and somehow maneuvered the ball to Breukelen Woodard. Woodard, already behind the defense, took a touch toward goal and calmly slotted the ball with her left foot to the opposite corner to edge the Quakers ahead 1-0.
The lead didn't last long, though, as Fairfield equalized in the 58th minute, somewhat against the run of play. The Stags managed to earn a corner and then Kelsey Gilbert got on the end of it to level the score.
In the 81st minute, Sands bullied her way through a tackle in the middle of the field then lined a left-footed pass in behind the defense to a streaking Emma Loving. Loving and another defender shouldered each other, but she weathered the challenge and dribbled around the keeper, but her touch pushed her momentum back instead of goalward and her shot was blocked by the recovering defender.
Penn recorded seven shots in the second half, almost equally Fairfield's total in the 110 minutes.
In the first overtime period, Loving, Sands, Jackie Bruder and Sizzy Lawton created plenty of problems for the Stags defense, but the Quakers just couldn't find the winner despite chances, resulting in a 1-1 draw.
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