Women's Soccer Pushes to 1-1 Draw with Middlebury

SOMERVILLE - Despite scoring the game-tying goal just before halftime, the Tufts women's soccer team battled through double overtime to a 1-1 draw with Middlebury on Saturday, hosting Senior Day as part of the Tufts Homecoming Weekend events.

Alessandra Sadler scored the equalizer in the 45th minute, her first career goal

The Panthers got on the board early in the match as Adrianna Gildner scored in the 10th minute for Middlebury. Jamie Soroka came down the left side of the field for the Panthers, drawing out Jumbos goalkeeper Emily Bowers, allowing Soroka to feed the ball to Gildner in the box. Gildner was then able to tap it beyond Bowers' reach into the back of the net to put Middlebury up 1-0.

Tufts fought on their offensive end as junior Jess Capone took a shot on goal from 25 yards out that was saved and sophomore Alex Scheman zipped a shot from the right side in the 40th minute, only to be saved on a diving attempt by Panthers goalkeeper Kate Reinmuth.

With just 42 seconds left in the first half, freshman Alessandra Sadler netted her first career goal for the Jumbos, assisted by senior Allie Weiler, tying the game up heading into halftime.

Despite a combined seven shots in the second half, the two squads failed to score and headed into overtime still tied 1-1. Middlebury saw two chances on back-to-back direct free kicks early in the half followed by back-to-back shots in the 80th and 81st minutes, one blocked and one saved by Bowers. Capone had a last opportunity for Tufts in the half in the 85th minute on a scramble after a corner kick, taking a shot from 15 yards out that would be saved by a diving Reinmuth.

With no shots taken in the first overtime period, the Jumbos and Panthers headed into double overtime. Tufts saw its best chance on goal in the 106th minute with a crucial corner kick, though were unable to capitalize as time wound down.

The Jumbos took nine corner kicks in the match compared to just two for Middlebury.

Bowers made four saves in net for Tufts while Reinmuth tacked on six, with both goalies playing the full 110 minutes for their respective teams.

The Jumbos play on the road for their next two contests, taking on Endicott this Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 4 p.m. followed by a contest at Bates next Saturday, Oct. 17 at noon. Tufts returns home for a non-conference match with UMass Boston on Tues., Oct. 20 starting at 3 pm.

Game Photos by Alonso Nichols / Tufts

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