(Cedar City, UT) - Southern Utah broke its offensive slump by scoring two goals in less than a minute of game time in order to jump out to a 2-0 advantage in first half of its game with Utah Valley on Saturday. The Wolverines would rally with a score just before the break and then net an equalizer in the sixty-ninth minute to earn a 2-2 draw after neither side was able to retake the advantage throughout regulation or the following two overtime periods.

The Thunderbird offense put pressure on the visitors early on which would eventually translate into the match’s opening goal in the twenty-fourth minute. SUU forward Sabrina Hernandez took a well-timed pass from Savannah Spere and beat the defense to put a shot past the keeper and give her team a 1-0 edge.

Southern Utah quickly regained possession and worked the ball back up the field where Rachel Wright fired off another shot. The UVU keeper would deflect her attempt out near the top of the box where senior forward Stacey Brinkman was waiting to blast it back into the net to make the count 2-0 in favor of SUU.

“We attacked from the beginning,” explained Thunderbird head coach Becky Hogan. “We worked on attacking the defense all week in practice and today we did it well.”

A defensive miscue in the closing minutes of the opening half would then allow Utah Valley to cut into the SUU advantage. The Wolverines played the ball into the box where it deflected off a few Thunderbird defenders before rolling across the goal line to bring the score to 2-1.

Utah Valley came out firing in the second half, and was finally able to level the score at 2-2 with an equalizer in the sixty-ninth minute. Junior defender Lexi Dunn set up the goal by sending a free kick into the box where it was blocked by SUU goalkeeper Charly Booth. The ball then bounced back to Regan Benson who fired a shot into the net.

Brinkman racked up three shots for Southern Utah while Natalie Baker tallied seven for UVU who finished the game with 26. The Thunderbird offense combined for 16 shots on the day and a season best two goals.

“It’s exciting, our team really appears to be hitting its stride,” commented Hogan. “They are playing a new style, some of them are even playing at new positions, and they continue to keep improving.”

SUU is now 0-4-1 on the year while the Utah Valley’s record moves to 1-3-1. The Thunderbirds will back home again next week to face the Western State College of Colorado on Friday at 4:00 p.m. and will then host a special alumni game on Saturday at 2:00 prior to Southern Utah’s first home football game of the season.