BECKLEY, W.Va. – With everything going on in the area due to the weather, the Virginia State University Trojans and Bluefield State University (BSU) Women’s Soccer squads still pulled it together to play Sunday.
The match was supposed to be played at the Big Blues home turf, East River Soccer Complex, but with the storm, the complex has been closed and wasn’t scheduled to reopen in time for the match, so they needed to call an audible.
The match was moved from the Bluefield area to the YMCA Paul Cline Sports Complex in Beckley so that it could take place.
In what was a defensively heavy match in the first half and most of the second, ended up having some nail-biting action towards the end.
Both teams missed opportunities to score multiple times before they could find the back of the net as the two goalkeepers of each squad came up with big stops on several occasions.
The Trojans opened it up with help from a beautiful pass that was dropped right in front of Gabrielle Franklin with Big Blue defenders around her, but it did not matter as she beat the charging BSU keeper and dumped it right over her head, ensuring an easy goal to take the lead.
With the clock winding down, and Bluefield State having trouble regaining some offense, they were given a corner kick in a big spot and delivered.
Raquel Leonardo was given the task to try and center it and give a chance on the corner, she dropped a perfectly spotted ball right where Miriam Ballart was set up, making it all too easy for her to head it in passed the Trojans keeper to knot it up at 1-1.
Both teams would not budge from there as the match went on to end in a tie, giving BSU their second tie in the last three games.
Bluefield State now has some time off, with their next game not being played until October 12th, 2024 versus Shaw University, at East River Soccer Complex.
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