CLAREMONT, Calif. - On a blistering 100-degree Wednesday afternoon here at the Pomona College soccer field, water breaks were plentiful but goals were few and far between as the George Fox University Bruins and the University of La Verne Leopards battled to a 1-1 double-overtime tie in non-conference women's soccer.

The game location had been moved the night before to the Pomona grass field because La Verne's soccer field, which is also their baseball field, is undergoing reconstruction.  As a result, the Bruin soccer team arrived a little late and had only 30 minutes to warm up, perhaps a factor in the team getting only one shot the entire first half, and that one came four minutes into the game. 

La Verne did not get many scoring opportunities in the first half either, but capitalized on an errant George Fox pass when Nancy Rodriguez intercepted a loose ball on the left side of the box and punched it in just under the crossbar from 20 yards out in the 36th minute.  It was her first goal of the season.

The Bruin offense improved in the second half as the visitors took seven shots, finally tying the game in the 72nd minute on Melanie Gaither's third goal of the season.  Sadi Stouder received a cross from the left in the middle near the top of the box and found Gaither on the left side.  After dribbling around a defender, Gaither shot from 10 yards away to the far right corner of the net for the equalizer.

Both teams had scoring opportunities during the 20 extra minutes.  In the first overtime, Marisella Macias missed a sliding shot past Bruin keeper Alyssa Montero that was just wide left, while the Bruins' Esther Harder sent one high and Corin Beaudry had a shot on goal saved by the Leopards' Delanie Pacheco.  Gaither had a good run in the second overtime, but her shot from the left of the box sailed just high.

La Verne took 25 shots, 15 on goal, to 11 and five on target for George Fox.  Montero made 14 saves and Pacheco four. 

NEXT: George Fox (0-1-2) plays its final non-conference game Friday at Evergreen State College at 3:00 p.m. ... La Verne (0-1-1) takes on the University of St. Catherine in a neutral-site game in Portland, Ore., on Saturday at 7:00 p.m., before visiting Lewis & Clark College Sunday at 3:00 p.m.