Freshman Alexis Heffernan scored a game-tying goal on an extraordinary individual effort, allowing the No. 18 Truman women’s soccer team to come from behind and pick up a 1-1 home draw against Quincy (Ill.) on Wednesday afternoon at the Bulldog Soccer Pitch.
Heffernan ( corralled a pass from fellow freshman defender Jessica Hanson shed two Lady Hawk (8-2-1) defenders and beat the Quincy keeper with a goal in the 72nd minute for the game-tying tally.
It marked the second goal of the season for the true freshman, as the nationally-ranked Bulldogs out-shot recently-ranked Quincy 25-14, including an 18-7 advantage in the second half and overtimes.
The Lady Hawks – who were ranked ninth in the nation before dropping two matches at currently-ranked Rockhurst and William Jewell last weekend – came out flying, putting pressure on the Truman (8-2-1) defense and getting a flicked-in header by Ashley Burton for an early 1-0 lead in the 13th minute.
Truman then maintained the majority of possession for the final 30 minutes of the first half but couldn’t find an equalizer before the break.
Then, in the second half, Truman continued applying pressure and eventually broke through when Hanson played a ball from near midfield into the Quincy box. Heffernan took control and, while falling, blasted a shot past QU keeper Jodi Chapie to tie the match with 18:42 left on the clock.
After neither team found the net in the rest of regulation, the Bulldogs kept attacking in the 20 minutes of overtime but couldn’t score – settling for the 1-1 draw.
Both teams put nine shots on target, as Truman keeper Emily Bozdeck (St. Louis, Mo., Lindbergh) made a season-high eight saves in net. Her season-long GAA sits at 0.62 as she passed the 1,000-minute mark in Wednesday match.
After a quick 1-0-1 stretch in non-conference contests, the Bulldogs return to MIAA play this Sunday when they host Lindenwood (3-5-1, 0-5 MIAA) at 1:00 pm.
Courtesy Truman State University
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