VALDOSTA, Ga. – A goal by sophomore Victoria Bahr in the 60^th minute pulled the Valdosta State women's soccer team level with No. 2 Embry-Riddle Wednesday evening in the Blazers' 2023 home-opener as the teams tied 1-1. 
 
The Blazers (1-0-2) finished with five shots and two on target all in the second half, while ERAU (2-0-1) tallied 12 shots for the match with seven on goal.  ERAU's Marie Myhrvold Seim scored in the 28^th minute on an assist from Rachel Mahan and Ida Kummel as the Eagles held a 1-0 lead at the break.
 
ERAU entered after defeating No. 3 Columbus State last weekend 2-0 and won 1-0 over West Georgia to open the season.  The Eagles were No. 10 in the preseason top 25 before the wins last week.  
 
Bahr's goal marks the first goal against ERAU for the Blazers in the three meetings in the series.  ERAU won 3-0 last year in Daytona Beach, Fla., while it won 2-0 in Valdosta on Sept. 10, 2015.  Wednesday's goal marked Bahr's fifth career score at VSU. 
 
The tie is the sixth all-time against a ranked team as VSU also tied No. 1-ranked West Florida, 1-1 on Oct. 14, 2012, for the highest ranked team the Blazers have played in program history.  
 
VSU came out of the gates in the second half on the attack as Bahr had a shot go just wide in the 51^stminute and senior Samantha Worley had a header go wide off a corner kick from Bahr moments later. Junior Molly Wooldridge's shot sailed high in the 55^th minute as the Blazers' second half adjustments were paying off. 
 
Senior Ashley Puentes passed to Bahr, who was in front of the goal and drove a shot to the lower left corner past ERAU goalkeeper Oona Jokinen for the equalizer at the 59:17 mark.  The VSU "D" staved off a pair of corner kicks and a shot by ERAU as Blazer freshman goalkeeper Tori Vliet was up to the task.  
 
Later in the match, Worley had a good look, but Jokinen came up with the save tipping the ball over the bar off a free kick.  The play of the game defensively came from Vliet as Myhrvold Seim had a breakaway and Vliet made a great diving save to force the corner kick.  Myhrvold Seim had another shot that went wide late in the contest.
 
Individually, Worley and Bahr each two shots with one on goal, while Bahr had the equalizer and Puentes added the assist.  Vliet finished with six saves and one goal against, while Myhrvold Seim had three shots and two on target with one goal for ERAU.  Jokinen had one goal allowed and one save.
 
The Blazers return to the road Saturday at 3 p.m. at Georgia College in Milledgeville, Ga.  GC is 2-0 on the year after wins over Auburn Montgomery (2-1) and Newberry (3-1).  Check back with vstateblazers.com for links to live stats and streaming of the match.