WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Sept. 27) – The Waynesburg University women's soccer team hosted Saint Vincent on Wednesday night for a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) showdown that turned into one of the most entertaining and exciting games of the year. The two teams battled over 90 memorable minutes, before a goal on a free kick from freshman Waverly Lorne (New Providence, N.J. / Governor Livingston) with 89 seconds left to play allowed the Yellow Jackets to salvage a tie with the visiting Bearcats.
 
Saint Vincent (5-3-1, 1-1-1) opened the scoring in the 15^th minute, before senior Kate James (Silver Spring, Md. / St. John's College H.S.) knotted the score at 1-1 with 26:16 remaining in the first half. Roughly 4:30 later, Waynesburg (4-3-1, 2-0-1) took its first-and-only lead of the night thanks to sophomore Reagan Mittendorf (Bluffton, Ohio / Bluffton), whose fifth of the year put the home team up 2-1.
 
Just over 10 minutes later, the Bearcats struck again to tie the score in the 33^rd minute. Neither team found the back of the net over the final 11:32 of the half, keeping the game knotted at 2-2 as the two squads broke for halftime.
 
Saint Vincent came out firing in the second and regained the lead at 3-2 with a goal in the 67^th minute. However, a handball within the Bearcat goal box gave the Jackets a penalty kick with16:04 left in the contest. Mittendorf didn't disappoint and she converted the attempt with a line drive shot to the upper righthand corner that evened things up at 3-3.
 
The Bearcats reclaimed the momentum less than two minutes later and looked poised to earn a hard-fought victory. However, Saint Vincent again gave the Jackets an opportunity to cash in when a foul in the 88^th minute gave the home team a free kick from 46 yards out. Lorne let fly with an attempt directed at the goal that bounced nine yards in front of the end line, deflected off the Saint Vincent keeper and into the back of the net to tie the game at 4-4.
 
The two teams played out the final 1:29 of action before settling for the tie.
 
Not surprisingly, the two teams' statistics reflected how evenly the contest was played out. Saint Vincent held a slim 9-8 advantage in shots on goal, while each squad attempted two corner kicks.
 
Freshman goalkeeper Alexus Greenlief (Chester, W.Va. / Oak Glen) started and tallied five saves over 90 minutes.
 
Waynesburg is back in action on Saturday, Sept 30, when it hosts Thiel for senior day. Start time is scheduled for 1 p.m.