JOLIET, Ill. -- The University of St. Francis women's soccer team continued Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference action on Tuesday night, playing to a 1-1 draw against Indiana University Northwest. With the tie, the Fighting Saints stand at 9-3-3 overall and 6-2-2 in CCAC play on the season.
First Half
St. Francis set the pace of the match in the first half, ripping off five shot attempts in the opening 15 minutes of play. The Saints would go on to produce a total of 11 shots over the first 45 minutes. Indiana Northwest (4-3-9, 2-2-6 CCAC) countered with five shot attempts of its own, but USF starting keeper
Giselle Mata would deny all three on-target tries in recording three saves in the first half and aiding the Saints to a 0-0 halftime score.
Second Half
The Saints again came out as the aggressors in the second half, dominating the frame with 24 shot attempts compared to IUN's four. USF registered eight quick shot attempts in the first 15 minutes, but after the 59th-minute try failed, the RedHawks pressed forward and countered the Saints with offensive pressure of their own. That resulted in an IUN score in the 60th minute, which marked the score at 1-0. The St. Francis offense continued to control the possession, however, the majority of the second-half minutes and leveled the score at 1-1 at the 80:05 mark when
Mia Ocana connected for a scoring strike off an assist from
Isabel Diez before later coming within inches of claiming an outright victory less than 10 minutes later. In the 89th minute with just 32 seconds remaining, a cross to the middle of the field allowed
Jasmin Valles to missile a shot past IUN keeper Isabel Escalera, but an IUN defender stepped in behind the keeper to block the ball from entering the goal. The deflection allowed for an immediate secondary try for the Saints in front of the goal, but the shot sailed high allowing the match to remain tied 1-1 at the final buzzer.
Mata moved to 8-3-3 in goal following the tie, making four saves in 90 minutes. Diez took 10 of St. Francis' 35 shot attempts, while
Kelly Flores authored eight attempts with four being on goal.
Up Next
The Saints will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 24 when they travel to Crown Point, Ind. to take on the Governors State University Jaguars. The CCAC face-off will take place at the Crown Point Sportsplex and is set to begin at 7 pm.
You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.
