READING, Pa. – In a back-and-forth affair, the Albright women's soccer team (2-0-1) battled the DeSales Bulldogs (1-1-1) to a 2-2 draw on Wednesday night at Shirk Stadium in Reading.
The second half featured four goals and a combined 18 shots after the two teams had combined for just seven shots in a scoreless opening stanza.
DeSales struck first at the 30:46 mark of the second half as Sydney Amato buried a rebound off of an initial shot from Natalie Dorsheimer that deflected off Lions' goalie
Alexis Tunney. The Bulldogs struck again less than four minutes later as Rachel Medlar fed a through ball to Annie Brush who beat Tunney for the goal and a 2-0 advantage.
Albright's sophomore forward
Lauren Haley continued her red-hot start to the season as she took a pass from classmate
Amanda Fulcher and beat DeSales goalie Haley Jacobs with a shot from the far left wing to cut the lead to 2-1 in the 73
rd minute. Haley set up the tying goal less than four minutes later as she gave the ball to junior
Jillian Lapidus in the box who buried it to tie things at two apiece.
Haley has recorded four goals and an assist in the first three games of the season and is the reigning MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week, while Lapidus has now scored in consecutive games for the first time in her career.
In the 82
nd minute, Haley sent a shot just wide that would have given the Lions the lead.
The two sides combined for four shots in the two overtime periods and perhaps the best chance came for DeSales in the 94
th minute when Tunney made a saved on Medlar's shot to keep the game alive.
The Bulldogs held a slight 16-13 advantage in shots, while each team recorded nine shots on target. Haley paced Albright with three shots on net and freshman
Autumn Bieber contributed a pair. Amato, Dorsheimer and Medlar each had two shots on net apiece for DeSales.
Tunney and Jacobs each recorded seven saves for their respective sides.
The Lions return to action on Saturday when they host McDaniel for a 5:30 p.m. tilt at Shirk Stadium.
