WACO — In her first action of the season, senior Kauwela Neal scored the tying goal in the second half and UTSA and Louisiana-Lafayette played to a 2-2 draw in the opening match of the Baylor Tournament on Friday afternoon at Betty Lou Mays Field.
Sam Batley moved into a tie for the team lead with her second goal of the fall for the Roadrunners (0-5-1), while Isabella Sanchez made a season-high eight saves in her first start. The designated visiting team, UTSA tallied seven shots in the second half and 15 for the contest.
Meanwhile, Kimberly Grasso and Elizabeth Manuel logged goals for the Ragin’ Cajuns (4-2-1). Lindsey Stocks nearly matched Sanchez’s effort with seven saves of her own on the night.
The Roadrunners wasted no time in putting a dent on the scoreboard. Batley raced downfield in the opening minute of the contest and rifled a shot past Stocks for a 1-0 advantage.
However, Grasso knotted the score in the ninth minute after she finished in traffic after a pass from Yazmin Montoya. In the 39th minute, Louisiana-Lafayette took its first and only lead of the match when Cassandra Reyes found Manuel after a steal in the UTSA zone.
The Roadrunners came out of the locker room after halftime and turned up the offensive pressure. It did not take long for UTSA to even the score thanks to Neal’s first winner of the fall.
In the 52nd minute, Neal boomed a shot from 30 yards out that sailed past Stocks to tie the score.
Neither team could take the upper hand in the final 38 minutes to send the match to overtime.
The teams combined for eight shots in a pair of overtime sessions, but could not score the game-winner and the match ended in a 2-2 tie.
The Roadrunners will close play at the event against host Baylor (2-4-1) at 4 p.m. on Sunday.