Point Park draws 3-3 at Rio Grande (Ohio) ahead of Senior Day

RIO GRANDE, Ohio -- Point Park University women's soccer drew at University of Rio Grande (Ohio), 3-3, in a River States Conference game on Thursday night. 

The Pioneers (9-4-4, 6-1-2 RSC) came back from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 to take a 3-2 lead in the final 30 minutes, but Rio Grande (6-4-4, 6-0-3 RSC) scored the tying goal with 9:13 remaining to stay unbeaten in the conference.

It was a key RSC matchup with Point Park, Rio Grande and IU Kokomo (9-3-5, 7-0-2 RSC) all vying for the first-place finish in the conference regular season and the NAIA national bid that comes with it.

Thursday's tie in Ohio and IU Kokomo's win over IUPUC leaves IU Kokomo in front with 23 points followed by Rio Grande with 21 and Point Park with 20 heading into the final day of the schedule Oct. 28. Point Park hosts IUPUC (11:00 a.m. ET) while Rio Grande hosts IU Kokomo (3:00 p.m. ET).

The Pioneers fell behind 1-0 in the seventh minute at Rio Grande. Ten minutes later, Lorena Montanes tied things up for Point Park scoring an unassisted marker. 

But Rio Grande moved ahead at the half thanks to Morgan Fannin's unassisted goal at 41:06. The Pioneers were down despite leading 12-4 in shots the first half. 

The second-half heroics for Point Park came from Paula Sole, who scored two goals to push the Pioneers in front. Her first one came at 51:04 from Vanessa Vazquez with the second providing the go-ahead goal in the 61st minute. Montanes assisted to give her three points in the game.

But Amora Albano drew the RedStorm even at the 81:47 mark. That kept Rio Grande ahead on points for the year. From that point on, Rio Grande had the only two shots, and Point Park was called for three fouls. The trend had nine fouls on the Pioneers compared to none for the RedStorm on the night.

Point Park will recognize its seniors on Saturday, Oct. 28 for Senior Day versus IUPUC. The senior recognition will take place at 9:55 a.m. with kickoff at 11:00 a.m.