JONESBORO, AR ? The Arkansas State soccer team battled to a 1-1 tie against Sun Belt Conference foe Florida International on Sunday afternoon at the Indian Soccer Park. The tie moves the Tribe to 3-8-1 on the season and 0-3-1 in the Sun Belt this season while FIU is now 3-3-4 overall and 1-0-1 in conference action.
Senior forward Shawna Sparks, the Tribe's all-time leading goal and point scorer, notched her first goal of the season in the 10th minute of action. Junior midfielder Monica Roach lifted a ball into the box that came down in front of Sparks who poked it past FIU goalkeeper Madeline Gannon to open the scoring. Senior midfielder Sarah Palke also picked up an assist on the Sparks goal.
The Lady Indians maintained their one-goal lead until late in the second half when the Golden Panthers finally struck the tying goal in the 78th minute. Forward Janessa Taddei knotted the game up as she jumped on a loose ball at the 18-yard line and fired a shot to far corner past a diving Brielan Smiechowski.
The two teams remained tied for the rest of regulation as the Lady Indians pressed to pick up the go ahead goal. The Golden Panthers had a couple of opportunities in the overtime periods but Smiechowski came up with four saves in extra time to finish with nine saves in 110 minutes of action. Gannon finished the afternoon with four saves in the fourth tie of the season for FIU.
The Lady Indians will be back in action on Friday afternoon as they travel to face in-state rival Arkansas-Little Rock at 4 p.m.
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