On Friday night, the Dux varsity women's soccer team needed another dose of late match heroics as they traveled to St. Joe and earned a hard fought 1-1 come from behind draw with the Bears. After a scoreless first half, the Bears struck first in the opening 5 minutes of the second half, on a slotted ball in behind the Dux defense. Both teams battled hard to establish possession through the midfield for the next 30 minutes, with neither team being able to create dangerous scoring chances. The Bears almost made it 2-0 with less than 10 minutes to go, but the shot hit the outside of the far post and rolled harmlessly out of bounds. 

Trailing a goal with less than 2 minutes to go, the Dux earned a throw-in deep in St. Joe's defensive end. Sam Koppenol received the throw-in and beat her defender to the end line, before lofting a hard cross towards goal. The keeper made the initial save but lost control as she went to ground. Caiti Grant pounced on the rebound opportunity tying the game 1-1.

"Defensively, we were very organized and dealt quite well with their speed and combination play offensively. They are a well coached and physical team. We matched up well with them defensively and had some great battles through the midfield. Even though we had a slow start offensively, I though we grew in confidence as the game progressed. Our resiliency and willingness to press in the final moments of the match gave us an opportunity to tie the game. St. Joe is a very talented and organized team. A solid defensive effort and timely goalkeeping kept us in the game, and our ability to capitalize on an opportunity late in the match earned us the draw . Very happy with the result and the perseverance of our team tonight."

The Dux are 2-0-1 on the season and will return to OK Green Conference action when they cross "The Path" to take on Zeeland East on Tuesday.