At Findlay (1-3-1, 1-0-1)

Looking to bounce back from consecutive losses at Grand Valley State and Ferris State the weekend before, the women’s soccer team headed to Findlay on Sept. 21 to take on the winless Oilers.

It looked like the Eagles were about to walk out with a win until the Oilers broke their hearts with two goals in the last ten minutes of regulation and a third less than five minutes into overtime to seal a thrilling 4-3 victory.

It looked like Ashland freshman Allison Richards had put the game away when she scored her second goal of the second half in the 81st minute to give the Eagles a 3-1 lead.

Richards’s goal, scored from within the penalty area, was her third of the season.

Freshman Bethany Lang scored her first goal of her college career to open the match in the 19th minute. It came on a through ball from freshman Alexandra Kovarik.

Findlay’s Megan Galloway answered ten minutes later to tie the game. The score remained level until halftime.

Just a little over five minutes into the second half, Richards scored her first goal, this time unassisted.

She slotted a shot into the bottom right corner.

In the 83rd minute, the Oilers Emily Beddoes picked up a loose ball in the box and kicked it in to make the score 3-2, still in favor of the Eagle.

Sarah Silone scored the improbable equalizer to send the game to overtime, smashing in a shot from 35 yards with less than two minutes left in regulation.

In overtime, AU’s defense again proved vulnerable when Beddoes scored her second on another loose ball in the penalty area in the 95th minute.

Findlay outshot Ashland in the second half and overtime, finishing with a 13-9 advantage in total shots.

Junior goalkeeper Rebecca Plescia made six saves for the Eagles.

At Tiffin (2-3-2, 0-1-2)

Ashland used its offensive productivity against Findlay as a springboard for the next game, knocking off Tiffin on the road for its second win of the season.

Junior Kelly Krispinsky and Kovarik each scored.

The Eagles held a 20-12 advantage in total shots and pounded the Dragons with 15 shots in the second half.

Krispinsky opened the scoring in the 24th minute. The assist went to freshman Ali Manley.

Less than a minute into the second half, Kovarik widened Ashland’s lead off of an assist by freshman Krista Lewis.

Kovarik and Lewis looked dangerous in attack throughout the afternoon. Kovarik shot six times, with two of them landing on goal. Lewis had five shots.

Two minutes after Kovarik’s goal, Tiffin’s Guilianne Domingues pulled one back for the Dragons.

Ashland held strong for the final 42 minutes to preserve the victory behind six saves by Plescia.

Tiffin held a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks.

The victory was the Eagles’ first Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win of the season.

SVSU (3-1-4, 2-0-3)

Ashland returned home Friday to take on Saginaw Valley State. The Eagles fell victim to three Cardinal goals that were scored within ten minutes of each other, falling 3-0.

Head coach Glenn Francis talked to his team for close to 20 minutes after the match, stressing the importance of being prepared for each match.

“We didn’t mentally do what we needed to do,” he said. “We were being reactive instead of proactive.”

The Eagles nearly took the lead 20 minutes in, when junior Katelyn Peterson’s free kick from 25 yards had to be tipped over the bar by SVSU goalkeeper Laura Ivezaj.

A minute later, the Cardinals had a goal disallowed because of a foul in the box.

Saginaw Valley finally broke through in the 28th minute when Olivia Perrin booted a ball that arrived in the box on a long cross into the top right corner of the goal.

The Cardinals extended their lead just two minutes later. Kristen Tomczyk slotted home a ball that had been bouncing around in the penalty area.

Kellsey Poston gave SVSU an even more sizeable lead in the 38th minute on a beautiful strike from a narrow angle.

Polson received the ball on the right wing and picked her spot in the top left corner to finish the scoring run.

“We gave up three goals in a span of ten minutes,” he said. “It’s just a fact we’re not being mentally strong.”

In the second half, Richards gave the Cardinals a scare when she received the ball in the left corner and cut around a defender. Unfortunately, her shot went wide into the left side netting.

Sophomore Deanna Gundling also had an opportunity. She fired a shot from the top of the box in the 83rd minute that was headed towards the bottom left corner before Ivezaj made a diving save.

“The second half was much better,” Francis said. “We were a little more composed.”

The Eagles had five total shots, just three less than the Cardinals, but SVSU put six shots on goal to AU’s two.

“We get a chance, and it turns into half a chance,” Francis said. “That half a chance, we don’t capitalize on it.”

Plescia made three saves for Ashland.

Poston and AU freshman Carly Joliat each received yellow cards in the second half.

Northwood (3-5-1, 3-2-1)

After a scoreless first half, the Eagles felt like they could pull out a result against one of the better sides in the GLIAC on Sunday.

Instead, Ashland fell victim to two goals that came off of defensive errors in a 2-0 loss to the Timberwolves.

“Chemistry as a team isn’t even there yet, and we’re ten games in,” assistant coach Chelsea Smetzer said. “We’ve got to find a flow. We don’t have a flow.”

Bethany Lang created a scoring chance AU in the 20th minute, cutting in from the right wing to play a ball into the box for Kovarik, but Kovarik’s shot was deflected wide by a Northwood defender.

The Timberwolves broke through in the 54th minute, when Plescia came charging off her line to the left side of the box to punch the ball out of the box.

It only went as far as Northwood’s Megan Riley, who chipped the ball over AU’s defense and into the goal.

“We panicked,” Smetzer said. “We always panic. We need to stay composed, especially in the back.”

It looked Plescia had meant to catch the ball, but she might have had trouble judging it because of the bright afternoon sun that shone down on Ferguson Field.

In the 68th minute, the Eagles failed to clear a ball that was bouncing around the penalty area, and Melissa Seymour fired it hard and low to the right side of the goal to make it 2-0.

“We need to run through those and clear those balls,” Smetzer said.

Lang had a chance to pull a goal back three minutes later, but her shot from the top of the box was saved by Timberwolves goalkeeper Julie Shields.

Shields made three saves, while Plescia made five for the Eagles.

Northwood outshot Ashland 14-8.

The loss dropped the Eagles to 2-8 overall and 1-5 in the GLIAC.

The games against Northwood and SVSU were the start of a five game home stand that continued Wednesday with a game against Ohio Dominican that occurred past press time.

The Eagles will play Malone at 5 p.m. tomorrow and take on Walsh at 2 p.m. Sunday.