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Women’s soccer rallies to earn draw

By Matt Koll editorial Assistant 4 min read
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With playoff implications hanging in the balance, the stands at John F. Wiley Stadium were emblazoned with purple giveaway shirts, the Waynesburg players were wearing eye black and the fans were boisterous, as both Waynesburg soccer teams squared off against Presidents’ Athletic Conference rival Washington & Jefferson for the annual Kick Pancreatic Cancer fundraiser game.

In a game, which featured the Presidents taking a 3-1 lead into halftime and the Yellow Jackets bouncing back in the second half to tie the game, the two combatants drew at 3-3 when the final whistle blew.

The tie did not eliminate the team from the postseason, but leaves it unable to control its own destiny to get into the PAC playoffs, leaving the Waynesburg squad with mixed emotions postgame.

“It’s a pretty even mix between being proud of the way we came back from a two-goal deficit and disappointment,” said senior defender Natalie Abraham. “We knew we needed to win and we hate even tying with [W&J].”

The visiting Presidents were certainly not caught up in the lights, as they notched the first goal of the evening just over 13 minutes into the contest on a free kick, and scored a second goal just under 16 minutes later.

“Part of the problem came with the wind,” said head coach Laura Heethuis. “It was a huge factor, and was blowing in one direction and they were with the wind in the first half. To be honest, the problems came off of our own mistakes and lack of communication. It wasn’t something that W&J was specifically doing to us, it was our own battles that were the problem.”

The Yellow Jackets got on the board in the 33rd minute when freshman Melanie Burchfield scored off a block from two yards out. But, W&J was able to push the lead back to two, scoring right before halftime. Heethuis knew her troops had underachieved in the first half, and demanded more from them in the second.

“[Heethuis] basically asked ‘does anyone here want to play? Because that team [W&J] looks like they want to play a lot more than you,'” said Abraham. “We lost the first half, and were down by two goals so we needed to win the second half.”

Perhaps the Waynesburg player who took these words to heart most was senior forward Becky Hotek, who struck twice in a 12:27 span for her second and third goals of the season, to tie the game at three. The latter score was a header that came on a superb feed from fellow teammate junior Karleigh Murphey.

“Karleigh came up on the right side, while I was on the left, and she crossed it, and I don’t know where my defender was, but I was glad she wasn’t around me,” said Hotek. “Right as I saw the ball coming, I knew the goalkeeper was farther away, so I just remember thinking to keep it down because a lot of headers will pop up.”

Heethuis was very pleased that Hotek was rewarded with scoring those two goals in the second half, given the effort she has given all season long.

“Becky is the hardest worker we have on this team, no doubt about it,” said Heethuis. “So, for her, it was just a matter of time. Thankfully, she got two in this game and she worked for it and she deserved it.”

The scoring came to a halt for both teams in the two overtime periods, as Waynesburg outshot W&J three to one, but could not put a tally on the board. The Yellow Jackets also out-shot the Presidents 18-to-nine over the 110 minutes of play and attempted eight corner kicks, while W&J was held without a corner kick attempt.

Waynesburg concludes its season Friday when it takes on Saint Vincent at John F. Wiley Stadium for Senior Night.

Abraham and her teammates will take the time to appreciate the 2014 season that was.

“We will enjoy it,” said Abraham. “We realize it’s our last game, so we might as well just have fun and play. We play better when we have fun anyway.”

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