Lady Jackets get first point in conference play with 2-2 draw

Xenia, Ohio – The Lady Jackets scored a late goal to earn a 2-2 draw in a conference match with Earlham that took place on a neutral site Wednesday night.

After two scoreless overtimes, the Lady Jackets and the Earlham Quakers each earned their first point in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference play.

With the tie, DC now has a 0-1-1 record in the HCAC and a 3-7-2 record overall.

Freshman Darragh Hurst (Milford Center, Ohio/Fairbanks) got the scoring started in the first half for Defiance.  A corner kick from Lindsay Bubnick (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler) 27:34 into the game found its way to Hurst, who put away her first career goal to give DC a 1-0 lead.

13 minutes later, Cherrah Barclay scored the equalizer for the Quakers making it 1-1 just minutes before halftime.

The defenses played well all game, giving up no more than four shots in either half. However, the offenses were able to break through, and made the most of the opportunities.  Barclay scored her second goal of the match 21 minutes into the second half, giving Earlham a 2-1 lead with just under 25 minutes remaining in the game.

The persistence of the Lady Jackets paid off though. After starting to control the ball and developing a few goal runs, DC earned a corner with less than six minutes remaing. Bubnick took the corner kick, which got tipped around in the box and found its way into the goal off of Caitlin Lane (Botkins, Ohio/Botkins), despite a deflection by an Earlham defender.

Freshman goalkeeper Clara Zamora (North Las Vegas, Nev./Cheyenne) turned away a last minute regulation chance with a great save to send the game to extra time.

In the first overtime period, each team was only able to get up one shot apiece.

In the second overtime, Defiance brought the pressure and controlled the ball for the majority of the period.  The best scoring opportunity came on another Bubnick corner that found Lane on the far side. However, Lane's header went just wide, leaving the game at 2-2.

After the game Coach Van der Sluijs was happy with his team's effort.  He said, "I was proud of the way we bounced back after the Mount St. Joe's game on Saturday.  We put together the best game we've played all year and unfortunately just couldn't get that last goal for the victory.

The Lady Jackets out shot the Quakers 11 to 9 in the game.  Both teams found five shots on goal in which both goalies made three saves. 

Defiance will return to action on Saturday at Rose-Hulman with its third HCAC game of the season.  Kickoff is set for noon.