On a rainy afternoon in St. Peter, Minn., the Gustavus women’s soccer team opened up its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with a 1-1 (2 OT) draw against the Cobbers from Concordia-Moorhead. Junior forward Chelsea Craven opened the scoring for the Gusties early in the second half only to have Concordia’s Maia Johnson tie the game 18 minutes later.
Both teams battled to a scoreless first half, despite Concordia outshooting the Gusties by a 4-1 margin. Gustavus had a great opportunity with less than thirty seconds remaining, but Concordia’s Chelsee McLaughlan was given a yellow card as she took down the Gustie forward just outside of the box stopping the attack. Things continued to be close as the second half began, until the 61st minute when Concordia forward Sam Johnson beat a Gustavus defender and had her shot hit the right post and trickle back into play where it was cleared by the Gusties’ Rachel Iblings.
Shortly after this play, Craven got the ball at midfield after a long pass from senior Christy Tupy. Craven used a quick burst of speed to beat the Cobber defenders setting up a clear breakaway. Concordia goalkeeper Britt Reiersgord came out of her net to challenge Craven, but Chelsea stepped around her and tapped the ball into the empty net giving the Gusties a 1-0 lead.
Eighteen minutes later, Concordia’s Maia Johnson was able to tie the game at one after beating Gustie goalkeeper Ashley Ohlson with a low shot following a scramble in front of the Gustavus goal. Ohlson finished the match with six saves, while Reiersgord ended with two.
As the rain picked up in the overtime periods so did the intensity of the game. Both teams had quality chances, but neither was able to score the winning goal. Craven had another breakaway in the 105th minute, but her shot missed wide to the right.
Concordia remains undefeated on the season (3-0-3, 0-0-2 MIAC), while Gustavus moves to 1-1-2, 0-0-1 MIAC. The Cobbers held a 17-9 margin in shots and had a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks. Gustavus will continue its homestand with a game tomorrow afternoon against the Storm from Simpson College at 3:00 p.m.