90 minutes of play was not enough for the Pioneers in their tilt versus the Midway Eagles. The women’s soccer team had found themselves tied at one-a-piece at the end of regulation time, forcing overtime in their first-of-two River States Conference (RSC) games in Kentucky.

Coming off of last week, head coach Bethanie Moreschi wanted her team to not settle with being just good. 

“[We need to] stay focused, keep the passion for the game, and put in the work during practice sessions and on their own time,” Moreschi said. “We want to continue to be better than where we are at now.”

Point Park showed that they were capable of keeping their passion when Eagles’ forward Destinee Epperson scored in the 27th minute to give the home team the 1-0 lead.

Almost 14 minutes later, Boyd shook off her defender with a step-back move creating an opening between her, Nola McGuire, and the net. Boyd sent the ball over to McGuire who received the ball with her back towards the defender. 

Turning around suddenly, McGuire gave herself enough time and separation from the defender to bury the ball in the middle of the net to tie the game.

The second half was less eventful for both sides. After exchanging a barry of shots in the second half, neither team could find the back of the net. 

Goalkeepers Ashtyn Webb (Point Park) and Rebekah McKee (Midway) both finished the game with double-digit saves, with the former recording 10 and the latter hitting 11.

The Pioneers had not seen any extra time yet this season as the game went into overtime. They chose to approach the game with a “score quick” mentality, according to sophomore Taylor Goldstrohm.

“Both teams were dead tired and it was hot so we needed to end the game in the first few minutes of overtime,” Goldstrohm said. “We did have a few really good opportunities in the first couple of minutes, we just didn’t capitalize on them. I think that was the issue the whole game.”

With a ten minute overtime, neither team could possess the ball long enough to create a dangerous scoring chance.

Going into a second and final overtime, the Pioneers, who were already leading in shots, outshot the Eagles four to two. 

However, both teams’ shots were misses and the buzzer sounded with neither team coming out the victor. Point Park began their Kentucky trip with a 1-1 tie.

Two days later, the Pioneers were set to play the Asbury Eagles where they looked to own up to their conclusion from their last game.

“We played our game against Asbury,” sophomore Tia Horew said. “We played a majority of the game very well, but Asbury came out in the second half and put goals in immediately.”

The first half was a battle for the visitors. Asbury outshot Point Park 13-3 in that span of time, but the Pioneers held strong defensively. They did just want they wanted to in trying to gain control of center field and keep possession of the ball.

The issue in the second half was capitalizing on turnovers and scoring chances, just as it was against the Midway Eagles; different eagles, same problem.

The Asbury Eagles scored four times in the first 15 minutes of the second half, with two goals from Cam Davis highlighting their offensive expedition.

Susannah Terrazas added another tally in the goal column in the 89th minute, vanquishing the Pioneers 5-0.

The final 30 minutes of the game saw Point Park fail to profit from any scoring opportunities that came their way.

“We just need to get creative in the final third and execute when we do get those chances,” Goldstrohm said. 

Point Park returns to action at Highmark Stadium to play National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) opponent Washington Adventist, whom the Pioneers previously beat 3-1 for their first win of the season.

Afterwards, they will travel to Ohio for a RSC matchup against Ohio Christian University for the first time this season. The Pioneers will look to improve on their 1-2-1 RSC record and 2-8-1 NAIA record.