WORCESTER, MA - Avery Rich (Ilion/Central Valley Academy) scored her first collegiate goal in the first half, as the Cortland women's soccer team played to a 1-1 tie at WPI in non-conference action on Friday evening. Cortland moves to 1-1-1 on the year, while WPI in 2-1-1

Rich made her only shot on target for the game count for the Red Dragons, while Tyla Vuotto (Lynbrook) registered two shots on goal and Gianna Cirilla (Pattersonville/Schalmont) had one shot on goal. Olivia Rouse (Springfield, VA/West Springfield) made five saves in goal for Cortland.

Abigail Johnson scored the lone goal for the Engineers, with Katie Adiletta providing an assist. Ayla Verheul gave up one goal and made one save in the first half, and Maya Mussel stopped two shots in a scoreless second half.

The Engineers wasted little time opening the scoring, with Johnson volleying a cross into the back of the net to give WPI a 1-0 lead in the third minute.

After each team recorded a shot on target that was saved in the following minutes, Cortland evened the score in the 12th minute.

A Cortland corner kick taken by Leah Rehm (East Syracuse/East Syracuse-Minoa) was partially cleared by the WPI goalkeeper, before Rich collected the loose ball and deposited it into the net for a goal.

Rouse was called into action for one more save in the 16th minute, and neither team had a shot on goal from that point through the end of the half.

The Red Dragons each had two shots saved in the opening 17 minutes of the second half, and Rouse made her fifth and final save of the contest in the 73rd minute. 

The Red Dragons pressed for a winning goal In the last minute of play, but had one shot blocked and another shot go high in the final seconds for the 1-1 result.