SENATOBIA – A second half rally by the top ranked Northwest Mississippi Community College women's soccer team (11-0-1, 6-0-1) kept their undefeated streak intact as they came away with a 2-2 draw with #9 Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (7-2-1, 5-1-1) on Friday afternoon at the Ranger Soccer Complex.
The match was a tense affair for both sides with the Bulldogs delivering the first blow of the game on a corner kick that was sent into the box by Millie Jebb-Geer and was finished to the net in a cluster of heads with the Rangers being the last to touch it 20 minutes in.
Ten minutes later, Gulf Coast would strike again, this time from the opposite side with a ball settling at the feet of Vanessa Radojevic and the visitors found their lead up to 2-0, marking the largest deficit the Rangers had faced all season long.
After the halftime break, Northwest came out and faced a Bulldogs roster that kept the pressure up on them, not allowing much space or time for Northwest to run their offense. The Rangers were able to put a higher percentage of their shots on the frame in the second half, placing nine of their ten total attempts on goal compared to just six of 14 in the first half.
That finally resulted in a breakthrough when a counterattack led to a ball spread to the right side for Olivia Miller to send into the box, finding Emma Jensen who finished it behind the Gulf Coast goalies save attempt to get momentum onto the Northwest side and cut the deficit in half.
Six minutes later, the same duo hooked up again. This time on a much more unconventional goal. Miller once again crossed the ball into the box to Jensen but with her momentum taking her away from the shot, Jensen's header had to be on point to find the angle, and it was as the German sophomore and team leader in goals found her 20th of the season and evened the score in the 69th minute.
The strong play marks the second game in three opportunities that Miller has produced assists for the Rangers and Head Coach James Beattie said they need to find ways to get her more minutes.
"Her time has to go up now," Beattie said. "That's two important games now she's produced in. I think last game she had two assists as well, so she's definitely a person who's put herself in a good position going forward."
Both sides found surges of momentum in the final 20 minutes of the contest, but neither was able to find the breakout goal that could separate the deadlock on the way to a 2-2 draw that kept the Rangers in sole possession of the MACCC conference standings.
Ann Marie Barton was strong for Northwest in the second half, keeping the Bulldogs at bay and held off 21 total shots by MGCCC in the match, making two saves in the process, but was matched by Laurel Conely who made 12 saves in the match, most of which came in the second half.
The Rangers will take the lessons learned in their first draw of the season into a critical road test against the #4 Holmes Bulldogs (11-1, 6-1) on Tuesday afternoon at 1:00 pm. More information on the match and the Northwest schedule can be found at nwccrangers.com or by following along with Ranger social media accounts.
