Aggie Soccer Battles NAU to a Draw

Aggie forward Yolanda McMillion had a chance for another game winning goal in the final seconds of regulation in front of open net, but her shot ricocheted off the cross bar, sending the match into overtime that eventually ended in a 1-1 draw.

The teams battled through two scoreless overtimes. NMSU had to work extra hard in the extra sessions. Six minutes into the first overtime, Nina Yanes received her second yellow card on a foul called against her which resulted in a red card and thus ejection. For the remainder of the game, the Aggies had to play a man down. Playing ten-on-eleven altered the strategy for NMSU.
“At that point of the game, the second foul on Nina was a smart foul on her part,” NMSU Head Coach Mike Needham said. “Playing a man down changed the way we played from that point on, playing with four defenders, four midfielders and one forward. We just tried to batten down the hatches and not let anything get through.”

With the ejection in overtime coupled with the fact that NAU defeated the Aggies last year, Needham was pleased with the game ending in a draw.
“It is a good result for us,” Needham said. “NAU was in the NCAA Tournament last year, and that is where we want to be. We played good soccer, especially in the first half. We created chances that were dangerous offensively and we played well in the back.”
The scoring opened up with :17 seconds remaining in the 1st half as Lumberjack junior Carolyn Savage scored to give Northern Arizona a 1-0 lead going into halftime. It came following a free kick that Kristi Andreassen booted 60 yards into the box to give Savage the opportunity.
Trailing 1-0 at halftime, the Aggies rallied. McMillion scored in the 65th minute on a shot over NAU goal keeper Lauren Weaver to tie the game at 1-1. Setting up McMillion for her sixth goal of the season was teammate Crystal Burns. It was Burns’ third assist of the season.

“That goal was good soccer because of the way it was played,” Needham said. “NAU plays a high back line, almost forcing you to play the ball over the top. It is tricky to get the ball past them on the ground, especially on our field because it is so fast. It was took a good pass to get it into her.”
The Aggies move to 2-1-2 and will face North Dakota in Aggie Memorial Stadium on Friday night. Northern Arizona goes to 0-2-2 and travels to a tournament at the University of Southern California next week.

Aggie Soccer Battles NAU to a Draw