HANOVER, Ind. – The Kenyon College women’s soccer team played to its third tie of the season, drawing even with Hanover College (4-2-1) at 2-2 on the road.
The home team needed just 30 seconds to get on the board, taking the opening kickoff down the field and taking a 1-0 lead. Kenyon took three consecutive shots over the next few minutes, including two on-target attempts, as it looked to pull even early, but Jackie Thompson, Hailey Moss and Jenna Michel came up empty as Hanover’s keeper secured two saves.
The Owls bounced back and made it a 1-1 game in the 19th minute. After Leah Anderson saved a Panthers shot in the 17th minute, Moss assisted Morgan Baker, a sophomore midfielder, on the game-tying goal at the 18:35 mark.
The game remained tied through 45 minutes as neither team could pull away. Hanover outshot Kenyon 7-4 but had just one more shot on goal, 4-3.
The teams traded shots on goal after about 10 minutes of play in the second half after Kenyon’s Michel saw a shot saved in the 55th minute before Anderson secured a save in the 58th minute. The alternating attacks were a precursor to the 68th minute, when both teams scored.
Thompson, a junior, recorded an assist to Michel, a first-year player, to put the Owls ahead 2-1 at the 67:05 mark. Thompson crossed the ball into Michel for her first goal of the season, but the lead would not last long.
Soon after the ensuing kickoff, Hanover’s Ainsleigh Spaulding launched a ball from over 20 yards out that soared into the goal, knotting the game at 2-2 just 38 seconds later at the 67:44 mark.
The Panthers took the final five shots of the game, including two on goal and four inside the last 9 minutes, but Anderson and the Kenyon defense held firm to maintain the 2-2 tie.
Hanover finished with a 14-6 edge in shots that included an 8-5 advantage in shots on goal, and the home team kept the pressure on with seven corners to Kenyon’s two. Michel finished with all three of her shots being on target, and Anderson notched six saves in 90 minutes.
Next for the Owls is a road bout against Muskingum University on Wednesday, Sept. 28. The match is set for a 7 p.m. kickoff in New Concord, Ohio.
