LAKE WALES, Fla. - The Royals Women's Soccer team earned a crucial 2-2 draw on Saturday at home against the St. Thomas University Bobcats.
Gianna Bellomo recorded her 3rd brace of the season and 2nd in a row to help the Royals earn the hard-fought draw to keep the Royals in contention for the SUN Conference Tournament.
Going into Saturday, the Royals and Bobcats were separated by 1 point in the SUN Conference standings with STU in 6th place, the final SUN Conference Tournament spot. Both programs came into this weekend's match looking for an opportunity to put themselves into a more secure position as the Conference Tournament nears and both teams came out playing as if it were already a playoff game. The two teams went back-and-forth throughout the first half of play creating scoring opportunities and seeing great defensive plays that kept the match scoreless late into the opening half. In the 39th minute the Royals earned a Penalty Kick when their attack forced a mistake from the STU defender, drawing a handball in the penalty area, to give Warner an opportunity to take the lead before halftime.
Gianna Bellomo stepped up to the spot and smashed a shot past the Bobcat goalie to put the Royals up by 1 entering the break.
The Bobcats would find an answer in the 50th minute breaking through on a transition opportunity and leveling the match up at 1. The Royals pushed back after conceding and outshot STU 4-2 over the next 15 minutes before Bellomo found the back of the net for the 2nd time in the 65th minute. Warner's pressure earned themselves a corner kick during the 65th minute where
Astrid Beckemeier hit a great ball into the box that Bellomo knocked past the Bobcats defense and reestablish a 1 goal lead for the Royals. In true SUN Conference fashion, the visitors pushed back and would tie the game at 2 in the 69th minute. Warner continued to fight trying to find the game winner recording 4 more shots including 1 on goal in the final minute, but were not able to break the tie and would finish with a final score of 2-to-2.
Haley Van Houweling had another tremendous game in goal for the Royals as she secured 7 saves over the 90 minutes to help Warner earn the important draw. Following Saturday's matchday, the Royals are only 1 point out of a SUN Conference Tournament spot and only 3 points, 1 win, from being tied for 3rd in the Conference Standings. Warner's final stat line from Saturday saw the team record 16 total shots, 5 on goal, 4 corner kicks, and 7 saves.
Up Next:
Warner will travel to West Palm Beach, Fla. to take on the #1 team in the NAIA in Keiser University at 11:00am on Wednesday, October 21st.
#GodBlessGoRoyals | #TogetherAsOne
