CLEVELAND, Miss. – The Valdosta State women's soccer team used a first half equalizing goal from senior
Jocelyn Oballe for a 1-1 tie Sunday afternoon at Delta State.
With the tie, both teams remained tied in the league standings each with 17 points. Delta State's regular season is complete, while VSU will host Lee on Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the VSU Soccer Complex in a makeup match from Hurricane Helene. The Blazers are 8-6-2 on the year and 5-4-2 in GSC play, while Delta State moved to 5-4-6 overall and 4-3-5 in league play.
Following the first win in program history on Friday at Mississippi College, the Blazers went undefeated in The Magnolia State for the first time in program history and have gone 5-1-1 in the last seven matches dating back to a 4-2 win on Oct. 17 versus Trevecca Nazarene. VSU now is 10-1-2 all-time against Delta State. It marked the first tie in the series since a 2-2 draw on Sept. 21, 2013, also in Cleveland, Miss.
The Lady Statesmen scored just 11:23 into the contest on a goal from Casey Stalder and an assist from Jae'lasha Julien, but the Blazers responded with Oballe's score at the 35:31 mark for a 1-1 score. VSU finished the first half with eight shots and two on target, while Delta State had four shots and also two on frame.
In the second half, DSU out shot the Blazers 14-4 and put the pressure on the Blazers throughout, but VSU was up to the task as junior goalkeeper
Claire Timberlake had five saves in the final stanza and seven for the match. Timberlake made two saves on shots by Hannah James and Julien in the 55
th and 57
th minutes, respectively. Julien had a shot and a great save from Timberlake at the 87:34 mark and then DSU was awarded a corner kick with 28 seconds left as Ava Webster's shot went just left of the goal as time expired.
For the match, Oballe had one shot and the goal for her second goal in as many games as she had the insurance goal in the 2-0 win at Mississippi College on Friday. Julien had three shots and two on target for the Lady Statesmen and one assist.
