Friday night's game between the University of the Incarnate Word and Truman State University turned into a back-and-forth battle between two offensively gifted programs with no real victor as the teams ended in a 3-3 tie after regulation and two overtime periods.
Incarnate Word (2-0-1) took the lead three different times and each time the Bulldogs (1-1-1) responded with a game-tying tally of their own.
UIW's first goal came in the 16th minute when a loose ball bounced to freshman forward Sarah Johnson. The ball on her foot, she dribbled around a pair of defenders near the top of the penalty area before ripping a shot to the far post that put the Cardinals up, 1-0.
In the 35th minute, however, TSU knotted the score at 1-1 and things remained tied at halftime.
Incarnate Word took just nine seconds to score in the second half, as the opening kickoff went to junior midfielder Sam Johnson and she sent a long, high ball deep into the Bulldog's penalty area where sophomore teammate Amber Guenther was streaking down the field – much to the surprise of the TSU defense. Johnson's pass dropped in perfectly and with one touch, Guenther controlled the pass and then beat the goalkeeper for the 2-1 lead at 45:09.
Momentum seemed to shift in UIW's favor at that point, but the Bulldogs continued to pressure the Incarnate Word goal and earned a corner kick chance in the 48th minute. The free kick opportunity was headed in by a TSU defender and the score was, once again, tied.
UIW responded a few minutes later, however, as Sam Johnson recorded her second assist of the contest by dropping another high pass into the Bulldog box that found freshman forward Jazma Latu. Latu scored her second goal of the season with a nice one-time touch for the 3-2 Incarnate Word lead at the 54th minute.
But, the lead would disappear in the 75th minute when a high, arching shot to the far post found the upper corner of the Cardinal goal to tie the score at 3-3.
UIW nearly ended the game in the final minute when Sarah Johnson split the defense with some determined running and her shot rocketed past the goalkeeper – only to clang off the post. The game then went into overtime and neither team could find the back of the net in the two, 10-minute extra periods… although UIW hit another post in the first OT period.
Incarnate Word took 12 shots and Truman State had 14. It was the second overtime game in a row for the Cardinals who won a 2-1 OT matchup in Laredo against Texas A&M International on Wednesday night.
