ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The Lindenwood women's soccer team (3-0-0) scored a pair of second half goals for a thrilling come from behind 2-1 victory over Evansville (1-1-0) in Thursday evening's home opener. The victory moves Lindenwood to 3-0 for the first time since the 2020 season. 

Game Overview
The Lions were the aggressors early on, taking the first six shots of the match, all within the first nine minutes of play. However, the Purple Aces weathered the storm without conceding a score, and in the game's 14th minute, Taylor Johnson got behind the Lindenwood defense to score the evening's opening goal on an assist from Taylor Wehrer.

Facing their first deficit of the young season, Lindenwood would stay on the attack to record the game's next three shots but were unable to find an equalizer. Evansville tried to extend their lead with a four-shot barrage in the half's final five and a half minutes, but Caroline Ritter and the Lindenwood back line held strong to keep the score at 0-1 heading into the break.

14 minutes into the second half, a shot by Anna Johnson was blocked and carried over the end line for a Lindenwood corner kick. On the set piece, Rachel Johnson delivered a ball to the far post that connected with Allison Schrumpf, who headed the ball past the Evansville goalkeeper and into the back of the net to tie the game. It was the Lions' second corner kick conversion of the season.

With less than 10 minutes remaining in the game, Sophia Mueller put a quality shot on goal that was saved by Evansville's Elke Travis. However, after leaving her feet to make the save, Elke was unable to corral the ball, and amidst a sea of bodies in front of the net, Mattie Ohlsen was able to get her boot on the rebound to poke the ball through the posts for the go-ahead score.

Now with the lead, the Lions defense went to work, allowing only one off-target shot from Evansville for the remainder of the game to secure a 2-1 victory in the home opener.

Lindenwood outshot Evansville 18-11, more than doubling their combined shot total of 15 coming into the contest. Anna Johnson led the Lions with four shots.

Caroline Ritter put in another solid outing, posting another five saves to bring her season total to 16.

Quotable
"Tonight was a challenging first half for our group. I'm proud of how we responded in the second half and found a way to win. We had to go off the script a bit, but this team is full of winners. In the big picture, we will look back at this night as one of the grittiest wins of the season." – Dave Musso

Next Up
The Lions now turn their attention toward the weekend, as they are set to welcome Omaha to Hunter Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.