NAMPA, Idaho – After dropping the season opener, Academy of Art women's soccer refused to return home without some sense of triumph. Although Saturday's match between ART U and Western Oregon resulted in a tie, the Urban Knights' defense remained stout against their inter-conference foe from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Furthermore, their strong offensive effort nearly secured the victory.
 
From the get-go of the contest, the two teams appeared to match each other shot-for-shot. However, a penalty committed by the Mountaineers late in the first half set up a penalty kick for senior midfielder Abigail Chavez who did not miss. For the remainder of the period, the Urban Knights' defense held steady, denying Western State from even getting off a shot.
 
In the second half, the Mountaineers applied a significant amount of offensive pressure, but Academy of Art's defense remained impenetrable. Western State had an opportunity to get even with penalty kick of their own in the 60th-minute, but senior goalkeeper Maggie Alikpala-Wilson made an excellent dive to her right to stop the ball from reaching the net. Although the ball ricocheted off of Alikpala-Wilson's hands, senior defender Aliya Salas was able to win the tussle and clear it out of the box.
 
From that point forward, the Mountaineers continued to aggressively attack the net and finally broke through in the 80th-minute when Western State's Paige Massey was able to break free in the box and place one beyond the reach of a diving Alikpala-Wilson. With the score now tied at one goal apiece, both sides scrambled in the final minutes to pull ahead. However, the score remained intact, forcing the match into overtime.
 
After being held from taking a shot in the first period of overtime, the Urban Knights managed to get two open attempts on goal less than 30 seconds apart from junior midfielder Silvia Fernstrom and freshman mid Sydney Cooke in the second 10 minutes of extra time. Although both tries were thwarted, ART U managed to hold back all four of Western State's attempts at the net, securing the 1-1 tie.
 
"Our backline showed incredible toughness and determination to stay strong for the entire 110 minutes without any of them receiving a substitution," said head coach Chris King. "Their ability to stay organized and battle through the heat was something I was very proud of. Leading our defense was definitely our goalkeeper, Maggie. She came up with big save after save including the great save on the penalty kick, followed up by the huge clearance from captain, Aliya Salas."
 
Alikpala-Wilson collected seven saves on Saturday and played a significant role in keeping the score knotted at one goal apiece. After saving eight shots in the season opener, the senior now owns a conference-leading, 15 saves. On the offensive front, Chavez's penalty kick represented her first goal of the season and her second in an Urban Knight uniform. Meanwhile, both Cooke and senior midfielder Kendall Bozart turned in two shots apiece.
 
"Our offense found its stride again today after we came out with two attacking mids and pushed the envelope to pressure their backline as much as our legs would allow," said King. "The work rate of Alyssa Rasmussen throughout the game while playing multiple positions was nothing short of inspirational. Combine that with Chavez's smart play to earn us a penalty as well as finishing it cleanly, and then Fernstrom's ability to neutralize their attacking mid for 110 minutes, we had a great opportunity for a victory today."
 
Academy of Art will now return home to prepare for their home opener against UC Merced on September 8 at 1:00 p.m.