Gorham's Late Goal Earns 1-1 Exhibition Draw at Austin Peay

Saturday, August 4

Clarksville, Tenn.

7 P.M. CT

Western Kentucky University

Austin Peay (EXH)

Western Kentucky

APSU

8/4/2018 9:36:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Box Score (PDF)

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Facing a 1-0 deficit with less than four minutes to play, redshirt senior Sarah Gorham found the back of the net to earn a 1-1 draw for WKU Soccer on the road at Austin Peay on Saturday evening in the first exhibition match of the preseason for both sides at Morgan Brothers Soccer Field.

Gorham, who led all players with three shots on goal, fired a long shot from outside the box into the right corner of the goal past Austin Peay's Mary Parker Powell to secure the draw for the Lady Toppers. For Austin Peay, Jade Dauriat scored in the 70th minute and Powell finished with seven stops in goal.

All seven freshmen for the Lady Toppers saw action in their first competitive collegiate match, led by 2017 Miss Kentucky Soccer Ambere Barnett playing the full 90 minutes in the midfield. Chelsea Moore also drew the start in her first collegiate appearance, while Lyric Schmidt saw 73 minutes of playing time off the bench.

In goal, Anne-Marie Ulliac earned the start after sitting out the 2017 season to satisfy NCAA transfer rules and posted a clean sheet with two saves in the first half before giving way to freshman Bailee Witt. Despite giving up a goal midway through the second half, Witt came away with a save and kept the Lady Govs off the board over the final 20 minutes.

WKU flexed its offensive muscles for much of the night, outshooting Austin Peay 13-6, including a 9-3 mark in the second half. The Lady Toppers also earned five corner kicks to just two for the Lady Govs as six different players put a shot on frame for WKU.

The defense held strong early for the Lady Toppers as Austin Peay could not manage a shot until the 23:20 mark, when Ulliac came up with her first save in a WKU uniform against Austin Peay's Shelby Stewart. Ulliac again shined just four minutes later to deny Claire LaRose to maintain the scoreless deadlock heading into the locker room.

In the second half, WKU put seven of its nine shots on goal, including early tries from Gorham and Barnett, but was stymied by Powell over the first 40 minutes of the frame. Austin Peay took a 1-0 lead at the 69:41 mark as Dauriat collected her own rebound during a scramble in front of the goal before beating Witt.

Despite six saves from Powell in the second half, Gorham finally found the breakthrough for WKU with 86:31 on the clock on an unassisted strike from outside the box. Entering her final year of play, Gorham is one of four seniors who will feature for WKU this season, joining Megan Morris, Hannah Cady and Nicole Roseland.

The Lady Toppers will close out their preseason with a pair of home exhibitions next weekend. WKU will welcome Saint Louis (6 p.m., Aug. 10) and Belmont (6 p.m., Aug. 12) to the WKU Soccer Complex to wrap up its preseason preparations before hitting the road to Murray State for its regular season opener at 3 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 17.