HOUSTON – On the first night of Southland Conference play, HCU women's soccer played to a 1-1 draw with the visiting Nicholls Colonels at Sorrels Field with senior Isabella Dillow scoring a goal for the fourth-straight match.
The first half remained scoreless, though the two teams combined for 16 shot attempts in the first 45 minutes. The Colonels (2-3-4, 0-0-1 SLC) held a 9-7 advantage in shots for the half but the Huskies (4-3-3, 0-0-1 SLC) led in shots on goal, with two.
Things picked up in the second half and in the 59th minute, HCU had the most dangerous look of the match to that point with a cross into the box finding a streaking Paisley Barela who had a good look at the net but her attempt to the bottom right of the goal was stopped by Nicholls keeper Aislinn Wright. The Huskies struck first, just under nine minutes later, when Ella Remy delivered a ball into the box off a set piece with Dillow rising up about 12 yards out from the goal and directing a header into the top left corner of the goal for a 1-0 HCU lead.
Barela nearly made it a two-goal lead in the 77th minute, gaining possession about 30 yards out and driving straight at goal a few paces before letting fly with a shot destined for the net but Wright managed to deflect it over the bar at full extension. Nicholls equalized with less than six minutes of play remaining on a free kick of their own. Alyssa Wheeler delivered a ball in to the penalty area where Gentry Watrous got position and used her right foot to loft the ball just high enough that HCU keeper Emmy McKeon was unable to hold on as she came down trying to collect the ball over the line and inside the goal. The Huskies managed three additional shot attempts in the final five minutes but all were off target.
Dillow's goal is her fourth in as many games and she now has five in her seven games played this year. Remy's assist was her second of the year. Barela led HCU with four shots, all on goal, as HCU put eight of 17 attempts on target. Nicholls finished with 18 total shots and three on goal.
HCU has a ten-day break until its next game, an 11:00 a.m. matchup against the UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros on Sunday, Sept. 27, in Edinburg, Texas.
