No. 25 Taylor Plays to a Draw; Eliminated from CL Title in Heartbreaker

UPLAND, Ind. – The third-seeded, 25th-ranked Taylor women's soccer team (10-3-5, 5-2-2 CL) hosted its Crossroads League Tournament quarterfinals match against sixth-seeded Bethel (8-7-2, 4-5-0 CL) Saturday night, playing to a 1-1 draw before being eliminated from the tournament in the first round of shootouts, 5-3.

As it had done so often during the regular season, TU came out firing looking to net an early goal and put the pressure on the visitors. Alas, despite taking the match's first three corner kicks and two shots, the Trojans found themselves down 1-0 when the Pilots' Autumn Beaudoin rifled a kick just underneath the crossbar for a goal in the ninth minute on BU's first shot attempt of the match.

TU added another 10 shots compared to just two from Bethel over the remainder of the half, but it went into the intermission trailing 1-0.

The Trojans again were the aggressors out of the second-half gates, and Audrey Grimm tallied the equalizer from the left side of the net off a deflected shot attempt by Chloe Sena in the 50th minute. Grimm's score brought the Turner Stadium crowd to its feet in thunderous applause, as the junior netted her team-leading ninth goal and 21st point of the season.

After a Bethel corner kick and a save from Hannah Brackenbury, Taylor seemingly used the momentum on its side as it dominated the rest of regulation. Several crossing passes and through balls for the home team led to near misses and slight misconnections, however, as the score remained 1-1. BU's goalie Jael Schubert, who was excellent all night in net, made a game-saving leap for the Pilots in the 78th minute on one of Taylor's best scoring chances on a well-placed kick by Sena.

Controlling possession almost exclusively until the end of regulation, however, the Trojans could not score the game winner as two overtime periods loomed. The only shots and corner kicks taken in overtime were again by TU, but with the score still tied at one apiece, the match was decided on a penalty-kick shootout ultimately won by Bethel.

The Trojans dominated nearly all night with 34 shots (14 on goal) compared to six shots (three on goal) from the Pilots. Grimm, Sena and Kiana Siefert each took six shots and landed multiple attempts on frame to lead all players in the match offensively.

No. 25 Taylor now awaits its fate with the NAIA Tournament Selection Show scheduled for Monday, November 13 at 1 p.m.