BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Rivals Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky are becoming accustomed to working overtime on the soccer field. The two squads played another classic in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both teams here Sunday night, and after 110-minutes of intense battle nothing had been settled as Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky played to a 2-2 draw. It marked the third consecutive meeting between the two teams to require overtime, and it represented the second double-overtime draw in the last three meetings. The Blue Raiders and Hilltoppers also played to a 1-1 draw at Western Kentucky in 2003.
With the draw, Middle Tennessee extended its Sun Belt unbeaten streak to 10 straight. The Blue Raiders are 7-0-3 during the streak.
"We knew it was going to be a very intense, hard-fought match against a good team, and it was," Middle Tennessee coach Aston Rhoden said. "We had our chances, but Western Kentucky stepped up and made some big plays. The opportunities we did have, we didn't finish. On the other hand, Western Kentucky played a very good match and we had to make some big plays, as well."
Western Kentucky (2-5-3, 0-0-1) struck first when Kalyn O'Shea scored in the ninth minute, but the lead was short-lived as Middle Tennessee (6-3-1, 0-0-1) came right back. Kala Morgan's fourth goal of the season on a beautiful pass from Holly Grogan evened the scored, 1-1, in the 12th minute.
The score remained deadlocked until just before halftime when Katie Daley's netted her first career goal unassisted to give Middle Tennessee a 2-1 lead and momentum in the 41st minute.
What momentum the Blue Raiders built was quickly taken away when Western Kentucky needed just 48 seconds to score at the outset of the second half, tying the match 2-2 on Alicia Dalby's second goal of the season.
From there the match began a defensive struggle with each team making game-saving plays with nifty defense and big stops from the respective keepers. Senior Danielle Perreault had seven saves for the Blue Raiders.
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