Pride and Trolls play to 1-1 draw

DUBUQUE, Iowa - Facing a familiar non-conference foe for the fourt-straight season, the Clarke University women's soccer team played Trinity Christian College to a 1-1 draw at Burrows Field on Friday afternoon.

For the third-straight time the Pride and Trolls would play to a stalemate as they finished 2-2 in Dubuque in 2022, they played to a scoreless 0-0 draw in Chicago last season, and this year's matchup split the difference to that 1-1 final score.

In 2022, Clarke took a 2-1 game and scored the equalizer in the 89th minute and two years later on the same field but the other end, Trinity Christian would score the equalizer in the 89th minute to take a 1-0 game from the 19th minute on to the eventual 1-1 final.

Clarke got on the board with that 19th minute goal off the foot of senior Bailey Wiemann as she would net her second goal of the season after receiving the second ball off of a corner kick attempt that lead to a Hope Ward header shot that was saved, as the ball eventually found its way to Wiemann for her to fire a shot into the back of the net.

One of the bigger plays in the game came later in the first half as a TCC handball in their own box would give the Pride a penalty shot, that would be attempted by Melony Jimenez as she buried the first attempt but early encroachment into the box by members of both teams led to a retake for Jimenez that would be struck off the post to keep the game at 1-0.

The Trolls would push their attack late in the game, firing four shots in the final 13 minutes, one being saved by CU keeper Faith Krapfl, then the final coming in the equalizing goal by Jade Maldonado on a strong strike from well outside the box.

Clarke women's soccer will continue their non-conference schedule with two more games next week, starting with a road trip to Chicago when they face Saint Xavier University on Tuesday, Sept. 3 at 6:00 p.m. CT.