NEWBERG, Ore. – After scoring a goal apiece in a defense-oriented first half, the Pacific University Boxers and the George Fox University Bruins launched shot after shot at each other in the final 65 minutes but came up with only a 1-1 double-overtime tie in Northwest Conference women's soccer Wednesday night here at the Austin Sports Complex.

Both teams managed just four shots in the first half.  The Bruins got on the board first in the 21st minute, catching a break when Pacific goalie Brittany Hartman tried to clear a pass back from a teammate that was intercepted near the top of the penalty box by the Bruins' Melanie Gaither.  After a couple of feints in both directions, Gaither found herself free from the Boxer defense and lined a shot from 10 yards out just off the hand of Hartmann to the center of the net for her seventh goal of the season.

The Boxers got the equalizer a mere 40 seconds before the end of the half.  After a Pacific throw-in, Kelsey Lockwood centered the ball from the right baseline, but the Bruins surrounded the pass and tried to clear it.  The attempt was weak, however, and Rachel Simmons, who had entered the game minutes before, found the free ball at her feet and sent it to the bottom right corner of the net for her initial score of the year.

Shots came more frequently in the second half as the Boxers rifled 10 shots, nine on goal, in the second 45-minute segment while the Bruins took seven tries, four on goal.  Keepers Alyssa Montero for George Fox and Hartmann made all the stops, though, to send the game into overtime.

In the extra periods, the Boxers got off five shots, all in the first overtime, and two on goal, while the Bruins got one shot in each segment, the first their only on-target try.  Pacific's best chance to end the game came 10 seconds into the first overtime when Shekema McCarthy put a corner kick into the goal mouth.  Montero, trying to punch the ball out, saw it deflect off her fists and into the crossbar, bouncing back onto the field before being cleared by the Bruin defense.

Three minutes later, what appeared to be a game-winning goal by the Bruins out of a scrum in front of the net was nullified by the fact that Hartmann had gained possession of the ball while prone on the ground just before it was kicked free of her hands by the home team. 

Pacific finished with 19 shots, 14 on goal, while George Fox took 13 shots and put seven on line.  The Boxers held a huge 12-2 advantage in corner kicks but failed to capitalize as the Bruins' Montero finished with 13 saves.  Hartmann turned away six Bruin shots that were bound for glory before her intervention.

NEXT: George Fox (2-7-4, NWC 2-5-2) is back in action Sunday at Yamhill County rival Linfield College, kicking off at 12:00 noon ... Pacific (6-5-2, NWC 3-4-2) hosts Lewis & Clark College Friday at 5:00 p.m.