Defiance draws with Blackburn, 1-1, on Sunday

DEFIANCE, Ohio – A second-half goal by the Defiance Yellow Jackets and a clutch save by the Blackburn Beavers in the final seconds closed a 1-1 tie in women's soccer on Sunday afternoon at Winsper Knobel Field.

Trailing 1-0 at halftime, the Yellow Jackets (2-2-2) evened the score with a goal by Hallie Webb with 5:51 left in regulation and nearly walked away with a win. With eight seconds left, Melissa Bixler broke away for an open shot, but the Beavers' (3-1-1) Sofia Faro knocked down the potential game-winner to finish 90 minutes with a 1-1 tie.

Blackburn drew first blood and ended the gridlock in the first half with an eventful goal in the 41st minute by Kylie Duncan. Ending an extended period of Defiance playing the ball forward on their half, Blackburn's Sophie King took off on a breakaway that drew DC keeper Sarah O'Shea out of the goal box and drew contact before Duncan netted the loose ball into the open net. O'Shea's contact with King also resulted in a yellow card on the play. 

Defiance had difficulty getting shots on frame for much of the game, finishing with four shots on goal. Webb's goal was the third of the contest that developed off a steal in DC's attack end that she was able to find open space to punch the game-tying goal into the upper-left corner the goal, which was her team-leading fourth score of the season.

First-half shots were even at 5-5 as the Jackets could not convert three scoring opportunities. Among them were an open look by Haley Hughes booted above the crossbar in the eighth minute, Hallie Webb's high attempt on a 22-yard free kick in the 18th minute, and the lone save of the first half by Blackburn keeper Sofia Faro one minute later that stopped Lexie Coward's free kick atop the box. After the half in the 52nd minute, Melissa Bixler advanced the ball into the box and tried to set up Hughes but the keeper pounced on the pass to extinguish the threat.

Blackburn had a pair of scoring chances to extend their lead in the second half of play. During the 67th minute, Blackburn's Duncan nearly doubled the score for the Beavers on a similar play to their earlier score by pulling the keeper away from the net, but O'Shea batted down the point-blank attack. In the 78th minute, a handful of passes opened up Isis Vinyard to the left of the net but her strike deflected off the left post.

O'Shea made two stops in each half for a total of four saves in the game. Blackburn's Faro knocked down three of Defiance's four shots on goal. Defiance led the overall shots 13-11 with Webb finishing with a game-high six attempts.

The next game on the slate for the Yellow Jackets is another home contest on Wednesday against Great Lakes Christian with kickoff scheduled for 4 p.m.

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