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Record Night Ends in Draw

by wsucougars.com
Aug 19, 2021

In Case You Missed It
PULLMAN, Wash. – In front of a record crowd of 3,147 Cougar faithful, Washington State (0-0-1) put on a show but had to settle for a draw, 1-1 in 2OT, on the opening night of the 2021 season against Arkansas State (0-0-1). Throughout the night the Cougs peppered the Red Wolves' defense with shots, 39 to be exact, but found themselves coming up empty as Megan McClure and her back line came up with stop after stop to deny WSU the goal that would send the crowd home in euphoric bliss. The 39 shots by the Cougs' ranked as the fourth most in program history and the most in over two decades of play. The frustration of near misses was felt ten-fold throughout the Cougar ranks as WSU found itself playing from behind for much of the match after conceding the opening goal in the 16' on an absolute bender of a shot from 22 yards out by Arkansas State's Abigail Miller. Despite falling behind, the Cougs continued to press on, pushing the attack and earning a program record 20 corner kicks on the night. However, it would be a mistake in the run of play by the Red Wolves that ultimately handed WSU a chance to cash in when sophomore Alyssa Gray beat her defender inside the six only to be cut down from behind to earn the Cougs a scoring opportunity from the penalty spot in the 73'. Super senior Sydney Pulver would step to the spot and calmly slot the ball into the back of the net as McClure guessed wrong for the first time on the night and WSU pulled even. From there, the two sides would play another 30 minutes of soccer with the Cougs continuing their barrage on goal taking 14 more shots, even seeing one cleared off the line in the 82', to the Red Wolves two before the final horn sounded at the end of 110 minutes.

Stat of the Match
The Cougs took 39 shots, tying for the fourth most in program history.

The Moments That Made The Match

Things You Need To Know

  • Washington State moved to 25-5-3 in season openers with the draw while moving to 21-8-4 in home openers. The Cougs are unbeaten in their last five season openers.
  • The draw marked the third-straight draw for the Cougs dating back to their final two games of the spring 2021 season. WSU is unbeaten in its last four games.
  • Four Cougs made their debut in transfers Enzi Broussard and Sydney Studer along with freshmen Reese Tappan and Khalia Gathright seeing action. Broussard, Studer, and Tappan all were in the starting lineup for the Cougs.
  • Sydney Pulver scored her third career goal and first since 2018. It was her first PK goal and the Cougs first PK goal since Sept. 28, 2019 (Averie Collins vs OSU).
  • Elyse Bennett and MacKenzie Frimpong-Ellertson led the Cougars' attack with six shots a piece. The six was a career high for Frimpong-Ellertson.
  • The Cougars take 10 days off before returning to the field to host Eastern Washington, Aug. 29 with kickoff slated for 1 pm at Lower Soccer Field.

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