DeLand, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle (0-0-1) women's soccer team played to a 0-0 tie against NCAA I Stetson (0-0-1) in both teams' season opener at the Hatters' Athletic Training Center on Friday evening. The teams were evenly matched for the most part with Embry-Riddle holding a 15-11 edge in shots and Stetson edging the Eagles 5-4 in shots on frame over the course of the match.
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After a more than 90-minute delay due to lightning, the game finally got underway under a steady downpour. The Eagles had the better of the scoring opportunities early in the contest led by senior
Valerie Obita who had two chances to put the Eagles on the scoreboard. The first came when
Martine Olsen played a ball to Obita who collected it and was able to dribble around Stetson goalkeeper Victoria Troccoli who came way off her line. Obita's cross went begging, however, as Andrea Froshaug didn't arrive in time to take advantage off the empty net.
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Olsen and Obita were involved in the Eagles' next attack with 20 minutes left in the half. Olsen delivered a long ball across the field to Obita on the left side. Obita outpaced the Hatter defense, but her shot banged off the post and back to the Hatters.
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As the half progressed, the Hatters began to create their own scoring chances and finished the scoreless first half with a 6-3 advantage in shots.
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The second half saw much of the same, with both teams mounting strong attacks, including a Mara Keomanivane shot that went off the near post and a strike by Olsen that sailed just high of the mark.
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With 4:15 remaining
Katherine Ebbs released Obita with a quick pass and, once again, Obita used her speed to outrun the Hatters' last defender and take the ball into the box. Troccoli was able to get enough of a touch to push the ball just wide of the mark and deny the Eagles once again, sending the game into overtime.
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The 20 minutes of extra time saw the Blue and Gold outshoot the Hatters 3-1. But as was the case in the first 90 minutes, neither team was able to find the back of the net, resulting in the 0-0 final score.
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Eagle netminder
Olivia Lynch collected four saves in the second start of her Embry-Riddle career, while Troccoli finished with three saves on the night.
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"You couldn't ask for a better opener minus the result," ERAU Head Coach
Samantha Bohon said following the match. "It was a good game of soccer. Both teams went end to end. I'd like to give credit to Stetson and Manoj [Khettry]. He's done a good job of organizing their group.
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"I was really happy with the chances we created. I was a little disappointed that we didn't finish at least one of them, but we had five or six legitimate scoring chances against a good Stetson team. You have to be pleased with that. I thought the overall effort from all of the players was good. To be here at the beginning of the season with that kind of effort and that kind of team effort even defensively, I thought was really good."
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The Eagles will be back in action at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 31 when they host 14
th-ranked William Carey in the first of two non-conference contests on the weekend.
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"I'm very excited about this season and just hope that we can continue to build off this game," Bohon said. "We know we have an absolutely daunting task this coming weekend playing William Carey and Mobile on back-to-back days. I'm excited about the effort tonight; a little disappointed with the result, but we'll take it and run with it."
