The Shepherd women’s soccer team came away from Wednesday night’s road contest vagainst Wheeling Jesuit with a 2-2 tie in full time. The tie now puts the Rams season record at 4-6-2 with a 3-3-2 record against Mountain East Conference opponents. Wheeling Jesuit now sits at 2-9-1 on the year.
The tie for the Rams wasn’t a certainty as the team looked at a potential loss before late game heroics from sophomore midfielder number 14 Emma Bernardoni who got a free kick past Jesuit goalkeeper Megan Herter in the 70th minute to even the score at 2-2. The free kick by Bernardoni came just four minutes after Jesuits’ second goal from midfielder Emily Hartley in the 66th minute.
Shepherd spent a majority of the first half trailing as Marley Magruder scored the opening goal for Wheeling Jesuit in the 17th minute at the end of a corner kick and were unable to match the goal until just before halftime behind a strike into the top right corner from freshman defender Madison Michael at the 42-minute mark.
Bernadoni’s free kick at the 70-minute mark for the Rams was good enough to force overtime between the two squads, but the offensive chances were not there as they were during regulation with both teams failing to take advantage in extra time.
Rams freshman goalkeepers Lulu Fricks with four and Meghan Byers with eight turned in great performances to combine for 12 total saves on 14 registered shots on goal from Wheeling Jesuit. The Rams had just seven shots on goal, but they made them count to secure the two goals that were enough to walk away with a tie.
For the game, Wheeling Jesuit had a 26-14 advantage in total shots as well as a 6-5 advantage in corner kicks.
The Rams search for their fourth win will come in a home contest against Fairmont State on Sunday, Oct. 14.
Vaughn Brewer is the sports editor for the Picket. he can be reached at vbrewe01@rams.shepherd.edu