The Bruins came into tonight's match looking to break their three-game losing skid, and they accomplished that by drawing Columbia College 1-1.
"I am extremely proud of the team for stepping up in the second half and getting control of the game and playing a quality style of play that is more characteristic of our program," Head Coach Chris Carmichael said. "We know we are not playing our best game yet, but I am seeing us getting closer when we focus on possessing with a purpose and putting the foot on the gas pedal in the attacking third."
The first half brought similar styles of play from both teams: possession leading to offense. The Bruins had the first flow of offense they have seen in a few games, which is a welcoming sight. Even though they couldn't find the back of the net in the first half, they still fired away six shots. The main highlights of the first half came from goalkeeper Margaret Provenzano who made a few crazy saves to keep the Koalas off the board. The one goal the Koalas got tonight came in the 20th minute when a little miscommunication by the Bruins led to an open shot in the middle of the box. The Bruins went into halftime with a 1-0 deficit.
The second half was very similar to the first, and the shot count favored the Koalas, but the Bruins had better shots. The Bruins settled possession gave them those great chances. Midfielder Madison Avelino had several great switch passes to open the field up and force the Koalas defense to shift around. The Bruins big game-tying goal came in the 73rd minute when Lydia Howell got the ball near the top left of the box. She turned and shot from the tough angle and buried the shot past the keeper. This was her second goal of the season. The Bruins had several more good chances to take the lead late including a great shot by Shannon Miller with her left foot. The paced shot unfortunately went off the crossbar. The match ended in a hard-fought 1-1 draw.
Margaret Provenzano ended the night with nine saves. Lydia Howell, Shannon Miller, and Amelia Peters all had two shots.
After the match, Coach Carmichael had more to say: "Lydia [Howell] has been huge for us this year and notched the equalizer. Then we had quite a few near misses at the end that could have won the game. But to come back from behind and get the tie against a quality Columbia team was huge tonight. This was another total team effort and super proud of them for stepping way up the second half."
Goal-scorer Lydia Howell added her own words: "We started the first half slow, ultimately conceding a goal. However, we fought hard in the second half, found our rhythm, possessed the ball, and created many more opportunities. One of those opportunities led to a goal allowing us to tie the game. We'll take that same rhythm into the next game on Saturday."
Shannon Miller also shared some thoughts after the match: "The team stepped up after a chaotic first half with many more solid chances built from longer strands of possession. I was proud of the way the team came out with better energy in the second half, and to get the one back was huge. We have a lot to improve on in our possession, but I believe the team can still find a rhythm."
The Bruins have a big chance to keep up the rhythm coming this Saturday as they host Covenant College at Alumni Stadium at 2:00 p.m.
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