EVANSVILLE, Ind.—University of Evansville senior Monique Landrum and sophomore Ryleigh Anslinger scored their first goals of the year Thursday night, as the Purple Aces' women's soccer team played to a 2-2 draw with the visiting Drake Bulldogs at Arad McCutchan Stadium in Evansville.
In a defensive-minded first half, it was UE's bench who provided a lift early, as Landrum and fellow reserve midfielder Chrysta Vasquez provided a spark offensively. Vasquez cracked a shot off the crossbar in the 36th minute, and was stopped on another opportunity in the 40th minute. Then, Landrum was able to volley home a cross from defender Rachel Rosborough at the start of the 44th minute to give UE a 1-0 advantage at the break.
At the start of the second half, Anslinger was able to record her first collegiate goal off a brilliant combination with sophomore Hailey Autenrieb and fifth-year forward Emily Ormson. In traffic near the center-line, Ormson was able to find Autenrieb, who quickly switched fields to a streaking Anslinger down the right flank. Anslinger then blasted the ball to the far left corner in the 50th minute to give UE a 2-0 cushion.
Drake would respond in the 64th minute off a corner-kick goal scored by Emma Nagel. The Bulldogs then found the equalizer in the 81st minute on a long ball that found the head of Megan Brown just outside of the six-yard box, and she flicked it in to tie the match at 2-2.
Evansville had one final run in the waning seconds to try and win, but Rosborough couldn't get a shot off to the right of the goal as time ticked down, and the final scoreline held at 2-2.
Offensively, each side fired 10 shots, with UE holding a 6-5 advantage in shots on goal. Nagel produced five of Drake's 10 shots on the night, while Landrum, Anslinger, Vasquez and Autenrieb had two shots each for UE.
With the draw, Drake stands at 2-7-6 overall and 1-2-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while Evansville is right behind in the standings at 1-8-5 and 0-5-3 in the Valley. UE will travel to Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday to battle the Belmont Bruins at 2 p.m. Sunday's match can be seen live on ESPN3.
