FINDLAY – Thursdays night matchup between Liberty Benton and St. Marys saw each team outscore the other 2-0 in a half and finish with a 2-2 tie.
“It’s not often you lie tying your opponent. Tonight we battled through illness and injuries to do just that against a tough, skilled, and well coached Liberty Benton squad. We’ve been trying to “find our way” more than anticipated this season, but the last few games things are starting to click. I’ll take a tie” said St. Marys coach Nick Wilson.
St. Marys opened the scoring with 23:18 left in the opening half of play thanks to sophomore midfielder Sophia Menker who snagged a pass from junior teammate Leah Brackman and raced a shot past Liberty Benton keeper Natalie Parmalee for a 1-0 lead.
The Riders struck again with 14:36 before the half to run their advantage to 2-0 on the third goal of the season from junior Emma Freewalt that stretched the net.
Trailing in the opening moments of the second half and faced with a tall task of slowing down a physical opponent the Eagles climbed onto the scoreboard with 33:08 to go thanks to senior Emma Hooper who found an open space in the front of a crowded net and bashed an offering past St. Marys keeper Ella Jacobs to trim the deficit to 2-1.
Liberty Benton pulled themselves to even at 2-2 with their guests at the 27 minute mark on a high arcing shot by freshman Ally Ferris that proved to be the evenings final tally.
“Our first goal is to win the WBL. Our second is to be peaking as we enter the postseason. Although we couldn’t top Ottawa Glandorf we are definitely on the right path heading into the tournament” stated Wilson.
Liberty Benton, ranked #9 in the OSSCA polls in Division 2 sees their record go to 11-2-2 on the season while St. Marys ends the regular season at 9-5-3.
Next up for both teams is a tournament opener with the Roughriders playing host to a Kenton squad they beat in the regular season 7-1 in a matchup on Tuesday evening at 6pm at Roughrider Field.
The Eagles will play host to either Van Wert or Bath next Saturday, October 21st at 12pm.