Wildcats hold on for draw with No. 14 Grace
WINONA LAKE, Ind. – Grace’s women’s soccer team had a strong showing on Wednesday in a 1-1 double overtime draw with No. 7 Indiana Wesleyan.
The NAIA No. 14-ranked Lady Lancers dominated long stretches of the match, owning a 28-8 advantage in shot attempts.
Grace limited the Wildcats (1-0-1, 1-0-1 CL) in the first half to just three shots and zero corner kicks. The Lady Lancers possessed with an intent to score and eventually did.
In the 33rd minute, Madison Tuma found space on the right side of the penalty box, and the sophomore powered her shot into the goal. Lea Fricke and Victoria Lucido teamed up for the assist on the play.
The Lady Lancers (1-0-1, 1-0-1 CL) tried two more shots and a corner kick in the final minutes, but Grace was unable to find a second goal.
IWU managed five more shots after halftime, but the Lady Lancers doubled that with 12 attempts.
Despite that shot advantage, it was IWU who netted in the second half. The Wildcats leveled the score in the 57th minute, taking advantage of a miscue in the penalty box to score.
JJ Aalbue, Tuma, Alexis Larimore and Ashley Vandenboom all had shots after IWU’s goal, but the Wildcats’ net remained unharmed.
Grace pressed hard for an overtime winner, keeping the Wildcats on their heels. The Lady Lancers outshot IWU 9-0 across the two overtime sessions.
Grace had two strong chances to score in the first overtime. Aalbue had a shot that was saved, and Tuma had another close-range shot that forced a diving save from the Wildcats.
The Lady Lancers tried four more shots in the final OT, but no winner was to be found on Wednesday evening.
Aalbue fired seven shots with three on goal, and Larimore and Tuma each shot five times.
Seventeen of Grace’s shots were on goal compared to five for the Wildcats. Grace also had all five corner kicks in the match. IWU did not take a shot for the final 22 minutes of the match.