HARDEEVILLE, S.C. - The Royals Women's Soccer team earned their first point of the SUN Conference season on Saturday when they earned a hard fought draw on the road at #14 SCAD. Warner's defense and goalkeeper,
Haley Van Houweling, were on fire in an intense defensive battle that saw the Royals earn a 0-0 draw, shutting out SCAD for the first time in program history.
The Royals had a tall task ahead of them on Saturday when they traveled to take on the #14 ranked SCAD Bees on the road, but the Royals were up for the challenge. The two programs battled throughout the opening half of play as the SCAD offense created chances throughout the first 45 minutes, but Warner always had an answer as
Haley Van Houweling recorded 4 saves to keep the Bees off the scoreboard. As the half went on a thunderstorm rolled in, dumping rain and forcing a halt in play due to lightning with only 3 minutes left in the half. The two teams came out with the same intensity as before the delay leading to an exciting back-and-forth final few minutes of the half, but neither team could find an edge and the game would enter the break knotted at nil-nil.
Warner found their grove in the 2nd half of play creating multiple scoring chances throughout the final 45 minutes and would go on to record 6 total shots in the half, with 3 of those being on goal. As the game wore on the two programs continued to battle, opening up the field for more back-and-forth action. Van Houweling continued to make huge plays for the Royals throughout the 2nd half, recording 5 more saves while also winning multiple 50/50 balls that were hit from crosses, corner kicks, and long through balls to kill the Bees attacks. The Royals saw impressive defensive stops from the entire team including standout performances from
Maren Stark,
Alycia Hizer, and
Jaclyn Malagies who each played all 90 minutes on the Royals backline.
Gianna Bellomo and
Malina Salas also went the distance for the Royals in the midfield in the tightly contested match. Neither team would be able to find the back of the net before the final whistle blew, securing the Royals 1st point of the 2026 SUN Conference season.
The Royals 0-0 draw with #14 SCAD marked the 1st time in the 26 game series history that a match ended in a tie and it was the first time the Royals have earned a point against SCAD since the 2018 season. Warner's final stat line saw the team record 8 total shots, 4 on goal, 1 corner kick, and 9 saves.
Warner will look to build upon their hard fought tie next week when they take on SUN foes Florida Memorial University and Ave Maria University as well as the team's final non-conference game of the season against Florida College.
Up Next:
The Royals will travel to Florida Memorial University on Wednesday, October 7th with kickoff scheduled for 1:00pm.
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