NEWBERG, Ore.— Following a quiet first half, Linfield and George Fox battled fiercely in the final minutes of regulation and through two overtimes Saturday before settling for a 1-1 tie in a Northwest Conference action at the Austin Sports Complex. Linfield entered the competition as the conference leader and fought to the finish despite the absence 2010 NWC Player of the Year Emily Fellows (Jr., Portland, Ore.), who was sidelined with an injury.

That’s not to say that the game was uneventful. Three minutes into the match, Linfield’s Anna Sours (Sr., Jacksonville, Ore.) made a spectacular shot, which bounced off the crossbar and away. In the first half, the Wildcats shot 13 times, while only one attempt came from George Fox. Despite the efforts of both teams, the match remained scoreless at intermission.

In the second half, the pace picked up, but strong defense remained the name of the game. The Bruins had six shot attempts, but Linfield defenders Emily Allison (Sr., Hockinson, Wash.), Lindzee Baker (Soph., Spokane, Wash.), and Jenna Quiring and goalkeeper Taylor Collinsworth (Soph., Bend, Ore.) would not allow it.

The Wildcats continued to pressure George Fox’s defense, pounding away with 15 shots in the second half. Jenna Quiring fired a kick from center field to Sours in the 83rd minute, who headed it to Zoe Langsdorf (Soph., Vancouver, Wash.) for a quick shot that landed just inside the far post.

It was the first goal of the match and Langsdorf’s second of the season. That was only the beginning of the excitement as regulation came to a close. Just more than a minute after the first score, George Fox’s Shannon Olson collided with Linfield goalkeeper Taylor Collinsworth (Soph., Bend, Ore.) and had to leave the game because of an arm injury. Collinsworth was given a caution, and George Fox’s top scorer Melanie Gaither drilled the penalty kick into the goal despite an impressive effort from Collinsworth, who managed to touch the ball but was not able to knock it away entirely. The tying goal was Gaither’s sixth of the season.

The two teams headed to overtime with plenty of fire, combining for seven shots each. After 110 minutes of play, including a scoreless double overtime, the contest was declared a tie.

This match leaves George Fox with a 1-4-3 record overall and 1-2-1 in the NWC, while Linfield comes away with 5-1-1 for the season and 2-0-1 in the NWC.

NEXT: The Willamette Bearcats challenge Linfield at noon Sunday in McMinnville.