MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The St. Olaf College women's soccer team overcame an early two-goal deficit to take the lead before Augsburg University scored in the final minute of a 3-3 tie on Saturday night at Edor Nelson Field.
Augsburg (8-3-3, 3-3-3 MIAC) took advantage of a pair of mishaps at the back to score twice in the first 12 minutes before St. Olaf (5-4-4, 3-2-3 MIAC) netted the next three goals to take the lead. The Oles held onto their 3-2 lead until Malia Neumann scored with 56 seconds remaining to force a tie.
The draw left the two teams in a tie for fifth in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) standings, although the Auggies have played one more game. It also extended St. Olaf's unbeaten streak in the series between the two programs to four games (2-0-2) after Augsburg was unbeaten (9-0-1) in the previous 10 meetings from 2011-18.
After entering the game with one goal in 27 career games, sophomore defender
Katie Beaudry tallied a pair of goals on headers off corner kicks by classmate
Cat Duffy-Shaw, who picked up her third and fourth assists of the season. First year
Emily Johnson followed Beaudry's two goals with her fifth of the season to give the Oles the lead before Neumann's late equalizer.
Augsburg benefited from a pair of mistakes at the back by St. Olaf in the opening 11-plus minutes to get out to an early 2-0 lead. In the fourth minute, Phoebe Alva Rosa ran onto a long ball and tangled legs with a St. Olaf defender who went down on the play, allowing Alva Rosa to shoot the ball into a vacant left side of the goal.
Eight minutes later, Jayla Ponce evaded an Ole defender on the left side to get in behind on her own. Senior
Maddie Black was able to save Ponce's initial shot, but the rebound fell to Alva Rosa, who steered the ball in for her second goal of the night. The Oles made it a one-goal deficit at halftime when Beaudry headed Duffy-Shaw's 25th-minute corner into the top-left corner for her first goal of the game.
Just over eight minutes into the second half, St. Olaf pulled level when Beaudry guided a header through a few bodies in front and inside the far post off another Duffy-Shaw corner. Not long later, Johnson cut in from the left and curled the ball into the top-right corner to give the Oles a 3-2 lead in the 60th minute.
Johnson's goal came three minutes after she and junior
Katie Korbas hit the crossbar in quick succession, with Korbas' effort being adjudged to not cross the line after hitting the underside of the bar. St. Olaf maintained its one-goal lead until Neumann's long-range shot hit the underside of the bar near the top-left corner and crossed the line for the game-tying goal.
The three-goal performance marked the first time this season that St. Olaf scored more than two goals in a game. The Oles outshot the Auggies by a 15-4 margin, including a 7-3 edge in shots on goal, in the game, but Augsburg scored on three of its four shots and each of its three shots on goal. St. Olaf also had 12 of the game's 14 corner kicks.
With three games remaining, the Oles remain firmly in the mix for a spot in the MIAC Playoffs, as St. Olaf and Augsburg are two points ahead of both Concordia-Moorhead and Gustavus Adolphus College for the final two berths. The Oles host the Gusties on Wednesday, Oct. 18 at 3:30 p.m.
