CLEVELAND, Tenn.- The 19
th-ranked Lee women's soccer team left the Ray Conn Sports Complex with a frustrating 1-1 draw to visiting North Georgia University on Wednesday evening. The Lady Flames held a 1-0 lead for 89:58 of the 90:00 minutes contest before the Nighthawks scored the tying goal.
Lee stands at 1-0-2 after three tough non-conference affairs. Coach Chris Hennessey will take his team back on the road for one final non-conference game on Saturday, facing Trevecca Nazarene in a 6 p.m. start. The Lady Flames will open GSC play the following Friday at West Alabama (6 p.m.) and then it will be on to Alabama-Huntsville on Sunday (17th, 2 p.m.) before finally returning home to host Auburn Montgomery on Sept. 22.
After playing to a scoreless first half in which the Nighthawks outshot the Lady Flames 4-2, Hennessey's club came out on the attack to open the second 45 minutes. Grace Berry put the Lady Flames on the board in the 60th minute (60:12) on an excellent assist from Juliana Lopez.
The Lee midfield and defense seemed to be in control until North Georgia stepped up their attack in the final 18 minutes of the second stanza. Lee keeper Abby Whitcomb, with an assist from Katie Wilson, was able to turn away shots on goal at the (71:41, 71:51 and 72:52) marks.
Finally in the hectic final two minutes, West Georgia pushed the ball into the box again and it was batted around by Bailey Vessel before traveling over to Grace McGill who scored the heart-breaking-tying goal.
The Nighthawks took 10 shots and were accurate with eight on goal. The Lady Flames had 11 shots, some coming on very good angles but only five were placed on target. Lee had the advantage in corner kicks five, and North Georgia three. The Nighthawks were whistled for 10 fouls and the Lady Flames eight. Each team picked up a yellow card.
Coach Chris Hennessey's Thoughts:
"All credit to North Georgia they were incredible tonight. Abby (Whitcomb) had a fantastic night in goal and she to be tonight."
"I didn't like the way we were prepared for the game tonight. It is frustrating because we played a team with a similar formation on Saturday. But all the credit to UNG they are the best team we have played this year and they deserved to come away with more than a tie."
