Chico State women’s soccer (2-1-3) squeaked out a 2-2 draw Wednesday night against the Biola University Eagles (0-3-4).
The Wildcats had an aggressive start, thanks to their newly-found formation consisting of two strikers up top. However, the Eagles were the ones to strike first following a near own goal from Chico that rebounded off the crossbar, finding the head of junior defender Marije Rechen.
At the end of the half the Wildcats found themselves down two goals with some work to do in the second 45.
In the 62nd minute, senior midfielder Brynn Howard put Chico on the board with a header after a perfectly placed cross came in off the foot of sophomore defender Madeline Mariani.
“Even though we were down two to zero, we never told ourselves we were out of it,” Howard said. “We just had to keep applying pressure, and never lost faith or belief in ourselves.”
Chico State’s game-tying goal came in the 76th minute following a looping cross which bounced around numerous feet inside the box and was cleaned up by junior forward Jiana Martin.
The Wildcats outshot the Eagles 15-8 and 6-4 in shots on goal, a very impressive offensive output for a team who’s been struggling to find the back of the net recently.
“I think getting that many shots in general is great. We are looking for who’s going to be the selfish one to take the shots,” Howard said.
The next game for the Wildcats will be the second of their four-game home stand taking place on Saturday against the Stanislaus State Warriors at 4:30 p.m. at the University Soccer Stadium.
Saturday’s match is the last preseason game for the Wildcats and will be senior night for the women’s team. The ceremony will take place prior to the matches and start around 4:20 p.m.
Home games are free to attend for students who present their student IDs or Canvas home page.
For information about all Chico State athletics or to keep up with the game live, visit the Wildcat home page, or watch through FloSports.
Lukas Mann can be reached at [email protected].
