Warriors and Tigers Play to a Scoreless Draw

FREMONT, Neb. – Midland University and Doane University battled for 110 minutes on Wednesday night before ending in a 0-0 stalemate in Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) women’s soccer action on a cold and dreary night. The tie moves Midland to 2-2-1 on the year while Doane’s record shifts to 0-7-2 overall.
The Warriors were aggressive offensively right out of the gates and kept the pressure on the Tigers’ defense all game. They totaled 38 shots for the contest with 18 on target. Doane totaled just five shots with four being on goal. The teams played a physical contest with 23 total fouls. Individually, Brittany Llanes paced the team with 15 shots (six on goal). Dana Gomez followed with 10 shots (six on goal). Rachel Thigpen made four saves on the night.
The Midland offense set out to test the Doane keeper early as nine shots were sent her way in the opening 20 minutes of play. The Warriors had a great opportunity to go up a goal in the 29^th minute as a penalty kick brought Llanes to the line. Llanes sent a great ball toward the lower right pocket of the goal, but Doane’s keeper made a highlight-reel play to keep the game knotted at 0-0. Midland continued to pressure the defense throughout the opening half but the tie would carry over into intermission.
The Warriors came out of the break with the same offensive pressure as four shots were sent toward the new in the first few minutes of the second half. The Tigers had an opportunity in the 69^th minute, but a save from Thigpen preserved the tie. The teams would play hard down the stretch, but defense prevailed as the 0-0 tie would push the contest to overtime.
The first overtime period featured three challenging shots by the Warriors, but the Doane keeper continued to impress as she corralled each attempt. The most promising attempt of the stretch as Jericha Fox found herself in great field position after a perfectly placed pass, but her shot would go just wide of goal as the game moved into a second and final overtime period.
It would be much of the same in the final 10 minutes of action as the Warriors maintained dominant field-position. The shots were there, but nothing could sneak by the keeper as time expired on a 0-0 tie.
“We couldn’t find a way to finish tonight,” said head coach Greg Jarosik. “It is frustrating to come away with only one point on a night where we controlled the game thoroughly. After picking up three points on the road at Morningside last weekend, this game was a letdown. We’ll come together and regroup, continue to work on competing as there are a lot of games left to be played.”
Midland (2-2-1, 2-2-1 GPAC) is back in action at home on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. against Dakota Wesleyan University (7-3, 5-3 GPAC). Dakota Wesleyan is coming off a 3-0 loss to Jamestown on Wednesday night. The Warriors topped the Tigers by a score of 8-1 in last season’s meeting.