The University of Redlands women's soccer team took on the Poets of Whittier College on Saturday, September 24, in front of the Bulldog faithful at Farquhar Field. After a 110 minutes, the teams finished the game deadlocked at one apiece and settled for the draw in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action.
The Bulldogs jumped on the board in the fourth minute, when sophomore forward Hayley Romo (Port Orchard, WA) converted a penalty kick after a Poet foul in the box on the previous play.
Despite sophomore midfielder Lauren Bay's (Oak Park, CA) two beautifully placed corner kicks during the first frame, the Bulldogs could not capitalize and headed into halftime with a 1-0 lead.
At the start of the second stanza, both teams played with great urgency and determination. Thanks to the defensive efforts of senior Faith Campbell (Bainbridge Island, WA), junior Erin Schlosser (Sammamish, WA), sophomore Shayla Funk (Fremont, CA), and freshman Louisa Alstot (Portland, OR), nearly half of the Poets' shots were blocked and Redlands held onto a 1-0 lead.
However, in the 80th minute, Whittier's relentlessness finally paid off, as the Poets took advantage of a deflected shot off of Redlands' junior goalkeeper Hannah Menk (Pleasanton, CA) and scored the equalizer.
Romo and Bay mustered one more shot each before the buzzer sounded at the end of regulation, but the score remained knotted at one, which led to the Bulldogs' first overtime game of the season.
Amidst the barrage of opportunities for the visitors, Menk made four incredible saves to keep the Poets at bay. For Redlands, freshman forward Hanya Loskutoff (Dublin, CA) fired off one shot on goal, before it was time to enter the second overtime period.
After 110 minutes of resilient play, the Bulldogs and Poets settled for the 1-1 draw.
Menk finished with 11 saves in a complete-game effort.
The Redlands women's soccer team (2-4-1, 1-2-1 SCIAC) squares off against the Athenas of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Farquhar Field on Wednesday, September 28, at 7 p.m.
