HUNTINGDON, PA - The Susquehanna University women's soccer team staked their claim early in their Wednesday night Landmark Conference meeting at Juniata, as just eight-and-a-half minutes in Nicole Freiler, a first-year, made it great timing for her first career goal to give the River Hawks a 1-0 lead. They took that lead into halftime before the Eagles pulled a similar early-half goal with theirs in the 47th minute from McKenna Kelley. Despite a 14-8 Susquehanna lead in shots and 9-4 in shots on goal, those two goals stood as the only ones of the game in a 1-1 draw. 

Freiler's relentlessness in the box was how the first goal came to be. With Susquehanna threatening, Sydney Williams popped a ball into the box. With a defender trying to shield her, Freiler worked around their best efforts, eventually moving to the left of Juniata's Daniel Scipioni and sending a right-footer to the far post for the early lead. Fellow first-year and goalie Katie Henchy helped make the lead stand by halftime as she garnered two of her three saves in the opening 45. With the stiff SU defense, Juniata needed a prayer to equalize the game. It appeared that they got one as just a minute and a half into the second period Kelley sent a ball in from the right side near the end line, cued up by Naomi Rich. The ball hooked dangerously toward the net and with Henchy beating down on it, it backed her up just underneath the crossbar as her attempt to knock the ball away hit the top of the netting and a surprising Eagles goal. The River Hawks battled mightily, using eight second-half shots to try to regain the lead, though none met the mark by the time the 90th minute horn blew. Juniata goalie Sarah Betts countered with five of her eight saves on the night to preserve the deadlock, while the Eagles could only afford one shot on goal all second half, buried by Henchy. 

In a matchup of aspiring Landmark Conference Tournament qualifiers, the draw offered one point to each side, with Juniata maintaining seventh place with seven points (2-4-1 Landmark, 8-5-3 overall), while Susquehanna is two points behind in eighth place (1-4-2 Landmark, 5-8-3 overall). The River Hawks have two more conference matchups this regular season against two of the top four Landmark teams, starting with hosting first-place Scranton Saturday at 1 p.m., then on the road at Drew, their Landmark Conference opponent from last season, on Saturday, Nov. 2. Sandwiched between those games is a non-conference home duel with Dickinson on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m.