Gallery: (10-30-2024) 2024 Women's Soccer vs. Millersville
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Freshman
Ashton Gonzalez scored a goal on a free kick in the 90th minute Wednesday night as the Shippensburg University women's soccer team tied Millersville, 1-1, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division match under the lights at David See Field.
Shippensburg (5-7-3, 5-5-3 PSAC East) had some early scoring chances but Millersville (6-4-5, 5-4-5 PSAC East) scored first on the evening, grabbing a goal in the 31st minute. A forward pass by Olivia Fleurant found its way to Aubrey Strohecker, who was able to beat a Raider defender and create an advantage. Aalivia Wainwright then used an impressive display of accuracy on a mini-breakaway to shoot the ball between freshman
Cailin Spelman and sophomore goalkeeper
Kirstin Brown and find the bottom center of the net for the 1-0 lead.
SU hung around, staving off Millersville's offense for significant stretches of play, but was unable to generate much of its own offense in return.
The final eight minutes of action proved a chaotic finish. After a Marauder shot by Strohecker was saved by Brown, she booted the ball down the middle of the field and a chip by junior
Ryleigh Cook ended up with sophomore
Gabrielle Walker on a breakaway.
Millersville goalkeeper Sabrina Zimmerman rushed out of the 18 in pursuit and made a save on Walker's shot but was the last line of defense, and as a result of her action while outside of the box, was assessed a red card.
Reserve keeper Samantha Ridler entered the game, marking her first collegiate action. The subsequent free kick was taken by Gonzalez and traveled to the right post but Ridler denied the chance for her first collegiate save.
The final minute of action saw the Raider offense drive down the pitch before Gonzalez drew a foul just outside the box with 45 seconds left. Gonzalez's attempt on the ensuing free kick made its way past the wall and Ridler got a piece of it, but it deflected into the top left corner to even the match at 1-1.
It was Gonzalez's second collegiate goal, and her second goal in as many matches.
Shots on goal were 6-4 in Millersville's favor while corner kicks were 7-3 in Shippensburg's favor. Brown recorded five saves for the Raiders.
With the draw, Shippensburg is now in a tie for sixth place in the PSAC East standings with East Stroudsburg. Fourth-place Bloomsburg, fifth-place Millersville, ESU and the Raiders are only separated by three points in the standings. The Top 4 teams from both divisions qualify for the PSAC Tournament in two weeks.
Shippensburg travels to East Stroudsburg at 1 p.m. Saturday for a match at Eiler-Martin Stadium.
