SCRANTON, Pa. – Not all draws were created equal.
The Moravian College women's soccer team picked up a crucial point in the Landmark Conference standings with a 2-2 double-overtime draw at The University of Scranton on Wednesday night. The tie moves them into third place on the table with one league contest remaining.
The Greyhounds (6-8-2, 2-2-1) were down 2-0 at halftime, but came out of the break with a brand new game plan: attack the Scranton goal at all costs. The task was a difficult one against a squad that had gone undefeated at 3-0 in conference play before Wednesday, but the Greyhounds accepted the challenge and scored two unanswered goals to earn a draw.
"What a game," head coach Brienne Smith said. "It was two totally different halves. We had so much momentum in the second half; it was only a matter of time before we scored. Everyone was feeling it; we expected it to happen."
Freshman defender Christine Miklas was the first to break through after a barrage of Greyhound shots to start the second period. The Moravian rookie scored her fifth goal of the season off a corner from classmate Valentina Margiottiello to bring the score to 2-1 in the 58th minute.
Junior forward Kirsten Schall made a triumphant return to the stat sheet after missing three games with an injury, scoring the equalizer in the 89th minute off an assist from senior Caroline Clark. With time quickly running out in regulation, Schall received a forward pass from Clark that broke through the Royals' defense, leaving the team's leading scorer alone with the keeper one-on-one. Schall won that battle, scoring her eighth goal of the season and forcing overtime at Fitzpatrick Field.
With the goal, Schall moved into a 10th-place tie in the Moravian record books with 48 career points.
In the overtime periods, it was sophomore goalkeeper Jacqueline Zalis' time to shine in order to preserve a hard-earned point. The goalie, who entered the game in the second half, made four saves in the extra periods, including a stop in the final 30 seconds of the final overtime to save the draw. All four of her saves on Wednesday came in overtime.
It was a tale of two halves, with an addendum written by Zalis in overtime. Scranton (13-2-1, 3-0-1) outshot Moravian 7-5 in the first half en route to a 2-0 lead and seemingly enough momentum to coast home for their fourth Landmark victory. The Greyhounds had different plans.
Moravian outshot Scranton 12-3 in the second half, which saw a resurrected Greyhound offense that took six consecutive shots before the Miklas tally. Margiottiello took three straight shots in a three-minute span starting in the 81st, setting up the momentum for Schall's equalizer.
"It's a crazy feeling because we were feeling unfortunate after being down 2-0, but we didn't feel outplayed," Smith said. "We talked about some changes in the attack and midfield, but the talk at halftime was asking if they believed they can come back in this game, and if not, they can sit on the bench. Everyone bought in and believed, and we exploited their weaknesses and got a couple of nice goals."
Smith awarded Player of the Game honors to sophomore defender Taylor Blake, whose defensive prowess made a difference on Wednesday under the lights.
"We take a lot of confidence from this," Smith said. "So many people are stepping up at this point in the season. Our back four was awesome. Blake was all over the field covering their two best players on different occasions. She is unbelievable."
The Catholic University of America was previously occupying the No. 3 slot in the Landmark standings, but dropped behind Moravian with a loss against Goucher College on Wednesday. The Greyhounds will look to clinch a postseason berth in their final conference match of the season against Goucher on Saturday, Nov. 2 on the HUB Quad at 1 p.m.
