Krone's Late Goal Helps Cleary Earn a Draw at Ohio Christian

(Circleville, OH)-- The Cleary Cougar women's soccer team opened their 2024 campaign with a road trip to Central Ohio to take on the Ohio Christian University Trailblazers Saturday afternoon.

The Trailblazers would strike first in the early minutes after earning a corner kick.  OCU's Karlie Tipton would take the corner, and scored an "olympico" goal, as her cross curled into the net in the 6th minute to give the hosts the lead.  That score held through the rest of the first half, and most of the second.  Cleary would start to put pressure on the Trailblazers, as they fought for the equalizer, and it would come in the 81st minute.  Mariah Krone would find the back of the net to score her first career goal, with an assist from Payton Zeh, to tie the game at 1-1.  The final ten minutes were stressful for both teams, as they each fought for the winner, but neither would find the net a second time, and the game ended with a 1-1 score.

Tara McGrath would earn the draw in goal, playing all 90 minutes and made 3 saves on 4 shots faced.  The Cougars outshot Ohio Christian 14-6, and held a 9-4 shot on goal advantage.  Cleary also held a 10-5 advantage on corner kicks in the game.

Cleary, now 0-0-1, will stay in Ohio for the rest of the weekend, and will take on the Mount Vernon Nazarene Cougars on Monday, August 19.  The game is set to start at 5:00 PM.