Story by MAYAN PAZ Photos by KATIE KUHLMAN
Tiger Media Network
FHSU women’s soccer concluded its season on Wednesday, hosting Nebraska-Kearney, hoping to secure a positive result and end the season on a high note. An entertaining first half, which featured 4 goals scored, ended in a 2-2 draw.
The Lopers (3-9-5, 1-6-5) entered the contest having scored only 9 goals throughout the season, but started the game strong. With a counterattack in the second minute of the game, they found Mia Lang at the edge of the box, and she struck the ball beyond FHSU’s goalkeeper Hadley Ostrander’s hands. The Lopers kept threatening the Tiger goal, and in the 20th minute, a corner kick cross was headed in by Keila Gillispie.
Isabelle Mull dribbles the ball down the field. 
Kennedy Hartzell passes the ball to her teammate. 
Sydney Cotter battles with her opponent for the ball. 
Jamie Kerkvliet gets ready for the game during warmups. 
Chelsea Bowen places the ball on the field to begin the play. 
Chelsea Bowen kicks the ball the down the field. 
Makenzie Hood gets ready to pass the ball to her teammate. 
Kennedy Hartzell dribbles the ball down the field. 
Makenzie Hood heads the ball to move the ball forward. 
Makenzie Hood throws the ball in from the sidelines. 
Kennedy Hartzell kicks the ball from the corner of the field. 
From the inbounded ball, Kennedy Hartzell pass the ball to her teammate. 
Taylor Hill tries to move around her opponent to score a goal. 
Taylor Hill kicks the ball towards the net. 
Megan Wiman kicks the ball down the field. 
Isabelle Mull receives the ball from the inbound play. 
Isabelle Mull and her teammates celebrate after her first goal of the season.
Down two goals within the first 20 minutes, FHSU (3-11-3, 1-8-3) shook itself out of the initial shock of the start of the game and began pressuring the Lopers with more offensive attempts. In the 30th minute, Isabelle Mull came off the bench and struck a powerful ball into the net to get the Tigers back into the game. Just 90 seconds before the end of the first half, MaKenzie Hood crossed the ball into the box, and Sydney Cotter deflected it into the net, scoring the equalizer.
FHSU Head Coach Tyson John said that this game was one of the better performances of the season, but that the team still wanted a victory. He said the team will try to learn from it, as well as the other games of the season, to start thinking about improving for next year.
“Obviously, we wanted to go out on a win and out-shooting them 12-5 shows that we were more than capable of doing so, but at the end we had a few chances where the ball flashed across the six-yard box,” he said. “We’re just not able to get on the end of it. It’s a game where the team that scores more wins, and so we’ll be working on improving now, going into the spring and looking at next year.”
Both teams combined for 13 shots in the first half; however, the second half was played at a much slower pace, with only 4 shots taken.
Mull said that she tries to use her energy off the bench to gain an advantage over the opponent’s players.
“I always try my best to bring the energy up,” she said. “You know, coming in about halfway through the half. I mean, everyone’s gonna get tired, so just trying to bring an extra spark when I come in is just my main goal every game.”
Hood said after the game that it felt good to finish the season with a somewhat positive result and an assist.
“I’ve had a long journey being hurt last year, so being able to finish out the season strong and put up a stat and get somewhat of a positive result felt good,” she said.