Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Northern Colorado
'Cats Open Big Sky Play with Draw
10/7/2010 11:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer
OGDEN, Utah -- Despite several missed opportunities and a second half deficit, the Weber State women's soccer team battled back to earn a result in its Big Sky opener with a 1-1 draw against Northern Colorado.
"All I can ask for, especially in conference, is do we have an opportunity to get a result in the game," said WSU head coach Tim Crompton. "Clearly, we had multiple opportunities to win the game. All you can do from the sidelines, is have players make plays. Their keeper made some nice saves, but we had ample chances to win the game. What I like most is our girls did what they've been doing the last six or seven games, they played hard. We didn't hang our heads, we came back and tied the game. There's a lot to be said for that."
The Wildcats created breakaway opportunities in the 2nd and 9th minutes, but Northern Colorado goalkeeper Kirstin Salminen turned away shots from Jessie Baddley and Felicia Sortor to keep the Bears in the contest.
Weber State continued to hammer away at the UNC goal throughout the contest, outshooting the Bears 23 to 16 overall and 13 to 5 in shots on-goal.
Northern Colorado broke through in the 56th minute as Danielle Birdsall found an uncovered Ariel Cook with a through ball to get her behind the Wildcat defense. Cook finished the chance, slotting the ball past Ryann Waldman to the left post.
The Wildcats immediately got back on the offensive and had another great opportunity in the 57th minute. Sortor got into the UNC box on the right side and fired a shot that was parried away by Salminen. The ball went directly to Nicole Moore, who got off another hard shot, only to see Salminen get enough of the ball on a diving attempt to send the ball wide.
Three minutes later, the Wildcats equalized. Baddley scored her third goal in the last two games, heading home a corner kick by Lindsay Ortgiesen. The set piece was one of 19 total corner kicks in the match, with the Wildcats grabbing a 10 to 9 advantage.
In the 77th minute, luck fell in the Wildcats' favor as JJ Wykstra and Cook fired back-to-back shots that ricocheted off the crossbar to keep the match deadlocked.
As the contest went into extra time, the Wildcats continued to put pressure on the visitors and took a 7 to 3 edge in shots during the overtime periods.
In the 97th minute, Baddley fired a shot from distance at the upper right corner of the net. The ball was snared at the last possible moment by Salminen for her ninth save of the match.
Salminen made her final save in the 109th minute, turning away another Baddley shot on the third 1-on-1 opportunity for the Wildcats on the day.
"I think when you're playing on your home field, you want to win games," said Crompton. "But if you can't win the game, the next best thing is you want to tie the game. You definitely don't want to lose.
I think it would have definitely been unjust if we had lost that game. You never want to say that you deserved to win the game, because nobody deserves to win games. You either win or you don't win. But we certainly played well enough to win, and I'm really glad that we battled back and tied the game. From (Northern Colorado's) stand-point, they got a point on the road. That's always a good thing. But, now we've got to go get those two points back somewhere else."
The UNC goalkeeper racked up 12 total stops in the contest, while Waldman recorded four saves in goal for the Wildcats.
Weber State moves to 1-11-1 overall on the season with the draw, while the Bears move to 7-3-2 overall. Both teams started conference play with the match, and as of Thursday night were in a four-way tie atop the league after Idaho State and Northern Arizona finished in a scoreless deadlock in Pocatello, Idaho. The other four teams in the league will begin play on Friday.
The draw by Weber State is the first time in 40 matches that the program has finished a contest with a tie. The last time the Wildcats earned a result from a draw was on Oct. 5, 2008, when they finished in a scoreless tie with Gonzaga.
The Wildcats will return to the pitch to take on Northern Arizona on Saturday, Oct. 9. Kickoff is scheduled for Noon at Wildcat Soccer Field.
