Box Score For 117 minutes Wednesday afternoon in University Heights, the John Carroll University women's soccer team did everything it could to deny the Allegheny College Gators from not only the team's first win but its first goal of 2014.

Goalkeeper Haley McDonald and the JCU defense turned away 13 Allegheny shots in regulation, and then four more in the first overtime and one in the second overtime.

But it was the 18th shot in the 118th minute of the contest in which the Gators finally broke through the JCU defense for a 1-0 victory at Don Shula Stadium.

With just 1:25 remaining in the contest, Allegheny's Jessie Thiessen dribbled around to the left side of the JCU defense and rifled a shot that snuck inside the right post to spoil JCU's home opener.
The first half of action was relatively quiet, as neither team could find the net.

Allegheny controlled the ball for the majority of the period, peppering the John Carroll net with nine total shots, eight on goal. Goalkeeper Haley McDonald turned away some promising Allegheny shots.

Midway through the half, Allegheny forward Niki Augustine clanked a shot off the crossbar, which ricocheted to Fran Weber, who nearly poked the ball into the net before McDonald made a sprawling save to preserve the shutout.

The Blue Streaks managed four shots in the first stanza. The offense came in spurts, as JCU took two shots in the 12th minute and two more at the 21 minute mark.

Allegheny continued to dictate the tempo in the second half, tallying three shots in the first 13 minutes of the second period.

The Blue and Gold did not record their first shot of the second stanza until the 80th minute, as Kay Akerly sent the ball wide of the net. The Gators responded three minutes later. Thiessen sent a cross to Sarah Sherwood at the right side of the net, but Sherwood could not get there in time.

With five minutes remaining in regulation, the Gators again missed a perfect opportunity to break the tie. With only McDonald to beat, Tori Delzer fired a promising shot off the post.

 Neither could manage a shot the rest of the regulation, sending the contest to overtime.

The Gators notched three shots in the first four minutes of the first overtime before the Blue Streaks responded with a shot of their own. Akerly sent a pair of shots on net midway through the period, but neither found the back of the net. Allegheny led the overtime in shots, 5-3.

The teams exchanged shots at the beginning of overtime, as Thiessen and Akerly barely missed on nice opportunities.

Akerly fired a beautiful shot at Allegheny goalkeeper Gabby Curtis with just under 2:30 remaining in the contest, but Curtis made a leaping save to keep the Blue Steaks off the board.

That save proved pivotal, as the Gators slowly built a counter attack that resulted in Thiessen's game winning goal that gave Allegheny a 1-0 victory. The loss dropped the Blue Streaks to 1-2 on the season, while the Gators advanced to an identical record.

For John Carroll, Akerly finished with a team-high six shots, including two shots on goal.

The loss snapped John Carroll's eight game winning streak at Don Shula Stadium, marking the team's first setback at home since August 31, 2013.

JCU's next game is on Saturday, as the Blue Streaks will face off with Kenyon College at 1 p.m.