The women’s soccer team opened their season Sept. 1 and 3 on the road at the Gannon University Classic. The Eagles lost both of their games in the tournament to Edinboro and Gannon before returning home to open GLIAC play against Tiffin and Findlay the next weekend. They drew with Tiffin on Friday and beat Findlay on Sunday, 3-0, to bring their record to 1-2-1 (1-0-1 GLIAC).

Edinboro (0-0-0)

Ashland went down 1-0 to Edinboro when Samantha Kaiser scored in the 13th minute, assisted by Taylor Stetka. The score stayed that way until the 89th minute, when Eagles’ freshman Lexi Gruich headed in a corner kick from sophomore Katelyn Peterson to tie the game and send it to overtime.

Seven minutes into the extra period Kaiser scored her second goal of the game for Edinboro, beating an AU defender and slotting a shot from 15 yards into the right side of the goal to win the game 2-1. The goal was assisted by Allyson Overly.

Edinboro outshot the Eagles 26-3, forcing Ashland sophomore goalkeeper Rebecca Plescia to make 11 saves.

Gannon (1-0-0)

Gannon’s Amanda Sharbaugh broke a scoreless draw in the 80th minute when she tapped in a cross from Michelle Genetin to beat Ashland 1-0. Gannon outshot the Eagles 12-10 but AU was unable to take advantage of five corner kicks and GU goalkeeper Maggie Brinkman made eight saves to keep them from scoring. Plescia had five saves for the Eagles.

Tiffin (0-2-1, 0-1-0 GLIAC)

The Eagles and Dragons were unable to break a 1-1 deadlock through two overtimes on Friday. Sophomore Melissa Hill missed a penalty that would have put the Eagles up 1-0 midway through the first half before freshman forward Kathleen Demaree was able to break the deadlock in the 44th minute.

Demaree dribbled down the left side of the field towards the penalty area. Once reaching the penalty area, she launched a right-footed shot from 16 yards that floated over the goalie and into the upper right corner of the goal.

“I just kind of turned around and hoped for the best,” Demaree said. “I guess I got lucky.”

The Eagles kept the lead until the 72nd minute when they gave up a penalty kick. Tiffin’s Shelly Rogers got chopped down inside the box and stepped up and converted the resulting kick.

Play opened up following the equalizer but neither team was able to find the back of the net. The Eagles had 11 second half shots, including a shot less than a minute after Rogers’s goal that hit the post, and outshot the Dragons 19-14.

Plescia played another outstanding game in goal for AU, making nine saves, including several game-saving efforts in the overtime periods.

Findlay (2-2-0)

When it rains, it pours. The sky opened up on Ferguson Field on Sunday and so did Findlay’s defense, as the Eagles beat the Oilers 3-0 in a game that was delayed for half an hour in the second half due to lightning in the area.

Senior forward Chelsea Hyatt opened the scoring in the 19th minute when she placed a shot over Findlay’s keeper into the upper left corner of the goal, assisted by Haley Frick.

Five minutes later, Findlay keeper Alicia Tutino made a blunder that gave AU a 2-0 lead. She mishandled a cross that senior Savannah Garside was able to steer into the back of the net.

Rain put a damper on play for the rest of the first half but the sky cleared for the start of the second half before opening up again.

Sophomore Tani Lopez capped the game off with a brilliant sliding goal in the 78th minute, assisted by Kathleen Demaree.

“I saw Kathleen running down the left side with the ball and then I just sprinted as fast as I could to the middle to get there, so then when she crossed it I was ready to score,” Lopez said. “Luckily, I got the goal.”

The win was Ashland’s first of the season and the team is still undefeated in GLIAC play through two games. Coach Glenn Francis was happy with the team’s performance over the weekend and can feel their confidence growing.

“Confidence can go either way,” he said. “When you have it, you seem invincible. When you don’t have it, nothing seems like it’ll ever go right. Right now they have it.”

The last time Ashland was able to score three goals while shutting out its opponent was last year against Lake Erie. The Storm rolled into town Wednesday, details from the game to follow. Ashland will travel to Ohio Dominican on Friday before heading to Walsh on Sunday.