PITTSFORD, NY – Senior Elizabeth May (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Sutherland) scored the game-tying goal in the 85th minute, as the RIT women's soccer team (0-0-1) played No. 16 Nazareth (0-0-1) to a 1-1 draw in the season-opening non-conference battle at the Golden Flyer Stadium on Tuesday evening. May's first goal of the season came off of a Caitlyn Daly (Glendora, CA/St. Lucy's Priory) pass in the middle of the box, as the shot rocketed just to the Nazareth goalkeeper's left.
 
Nazareth, ranked 16th in the country by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), and the Tigers played a back-and-forth game, with the Golden Flyers holding a slight edge in shots, 15-14. 
 
"We learned a lot about ourselves, and that's important in an early game," said RIT head coach Liz Masterson. "I knew that we were evenly matched, so we are right where we should be, and we need to keep getting better."
 
Opportunities weren't scarce for both teams in the first half. In the sixth minute, Nazareth's Courtney Malia took a shot off a cross to the right, but was denied, as junior goalkeeper Sienna Fisher (Lewisburg, PA/Lewisburg Area) laid out to smother the ball for her only save in 45 minutes of play.
 
In the latter stages of the half, the Tigers offense got going. RIT took eight first half shots, none better than a point blank opportunity by freshman Monique Polanco (Merrick, NY/John F. Kennedy), who unleashed a shot off of a deflected pass. That shot beat the goalkeeper, but Nazareth defender Sarah Conroy was able to use her body to save the attempt. Polanco ended up with two shots on the day, and the aforementioned shot on goal.

"It's hard to know what you're going to get from a freshman," said Masterson. "We knew that (Monique) was skilled, so it was nice to get her to be a spark plug for us."
 
In the second half, the Golden Flyers turned up the pressure on the Tigers defense with a number of opportunities on goal. In the 59th minute, Nazareth's Katie Riley had an opportunity at goal, but her shot was deflected by sophomore goalkeeper Kelly Rogers (Ardmore, PA/Haverford), the ball dribbling out of play. Rogers had three saves in 74 minutes of play between the posts.
 
After a corner kick, Nazareth was able to break the deadlock, as Jaclyn Stryker scored an unassisted goal. Rogers was unable to navigate through the traffic settling in front of the net after the first shot was blocked by a defender.
 
Once again, the Tigers turned up the pressure on offense, getting a number of shots on goal, before the aforementioned goal by May with minutes left in regulation.
 
"I knew in the last 10 minutes of regulation that we were pressing," said Masterson. "We just needed to get one clean look, make the goalkeeper make a good save. May was able to make a nice play and have a composed finish."
 
Neither team could break through for the game-winner in overtime, despite numerous opportunities to do so.
 
With the draw, RIT has had an unbeaten result in the last three meetings with Nazareth. The Tigers won the last two meetings coming in to the game tonight.
 
The women will head to the cozy confines of Tiger Stadium for the next few matches, starting with a match versus Allegheny in the Rachael Miller Tournament on Friday, Sept. 5. Kickoff will be at 2 p.m.