Carrollton - For those in attendance on Sunday afternoon to take in the West Georgia, Alabama-Huntsville soccer match; those fans might have thought
Sunday Night Prize Fights had taken place, as the two Gulf South Conference rivals pounded away at each other for 90 minutes of regulation and two overtimes, and when the final horn had gone off UWG and UAH had to settle for a 2-2 tie.
Each squad was quite aggressive and tested to see where the line would be drawn by the officials, and with no clear line drawn, both the Wolves and the Lady Chargers struggled to create any sort of a flow or momentum throughout the game, as the Lady Chargers were hit for 21 fouls and the Wolves were hit for 20 fouls, and five yellow cards were also handed out (UAH - 3, UWG - 2).
Alabama-Huntsville (5-4-1, 2-0-1) received both goals from Lauren Burns (4,5), who was simply in the right place at the right time. Burns scored the first goal of the game off a rebound inside the 6-yard box at the 33:45 mark, after UWG goalie
Patricia Logsdon laid out to save the initial UAH attack. Her second goal, the game-tying goal, came in the second half at the 70 minute off a corner kick and after the Logsdon stop two point blank attempts; Burns tapped in the third attempt just inside the left post.
West Georgia (6-3-2, 1-0-1) received its two goals from
Erika Harvey and
Melanie Kilburn. Harvey blasted her eighth goal of the season just three minutes after the Lady Chargers took the 1-0 lead.
Samantha Jones headed the ball up field to her fellow senior, and Harvey needed just a few touches to zip the ball inside the upper-ninety from just outside the 18-yard box. With that goal, Jones and Harvey connected on three goals on the weekend. Kilburn took a long pass from the Wolves' backfield and split the Lady Chargers defense to place the ball over, UAH keeper Rachel Mariscano for her fourth goal on the season at the 55 minute mark.
The first ten minute overtime period saw UAH denied twice by Logsdon, who played phenomenal between the pipes for West Georgia, as the junior keeper made seven saves, four (4) of which required her to use every inch of her 5'9" frame. The final ten minutes came in the second overtime and UWG had a couple chances to end the match, but were just unlucky in their finishes.
Angie Jolly ripped a shot just over the 100 minute mark, but a UAH defender deflected the attempt out of bounds. After one corner kick that was sent out of bounds by UAH, Jones attempted a second corner, and
Jessica Taylor just missed the game winning header, as Mariscano sucked up the attempt. Two mintues later the Wolves were presented with the exact same scenario, and this time Taylor missed by just inches, as the ball hit the outer part of the net, and a sigh of relief came from the Lady Charger fans, while a scream of disbelief came from the Wolves' fans.
West Georgia now awaits Friday's game against Ouachita Baptist here at Observatory Field at 1:00 pm.