CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Macey Bader netted the equalizer in the 87th minute to give the Charlotte women’s team a 1-1 tie against Virginia Tech at Transamerica Field on Sunday evening (Sept. 3) for its second draw in as many matches.
The first leg of a CLT soccer doubleheader involving both the men’s and women’s programs, Charlotte (2-2-2) was held to just two shots by a stout Virginia Tech (2-1-3) defense that only allowed its second goal of the season late in the match to Bader.
“In the last five minutes, I was yelling ‘It only takes one moment’,” head coach Brandi Fontaine said after the match. “I think what we’ve proven in the past few games is that we can be a second-half team if we need to. Whether that’s clean sheets, putting the ball in the net, or sustaining leads we’ve been able to prove that. And that’s something we struggled with last year. I’m really happy with the end result here. Obviously, you want to go home with a win but [Virginia Tech] is a top-level team in a top-level conference and to walk out of here with a tie – I’m happy at this point.
Bader had both shot attempts in the match for the Green and White, with her first effort sailing over the crossbar before scoring her second goal of the season to level things up late. She has now crossed the 20-shot mark for the season with 21 on the year.
Emma Wakeman had another strong match in between the pipes on the other end, making six saves to set a career-high for the second match in a row. Wakeman now has 14 saves total in the last three matches, boosting her season average to 3.0 saves per match.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Virginia Tech had the first two shots of the match early on before Bader let one fly that missed high in the 14th minute for CLT’s only shot attempt of the first half. The Hokies broke through in the 20th minute with a long shot from outside the box for the half’s only tally.
Wakeman was called upon for one of those two shots in the early stages of the match and stayed busy throughout the half with four stops, including a diving stop just a few minutes after the goal that held the Hokies’ lead to just one. Another busy flurry in Charlotte’s box late in the half saw Wakeman recover from a shot off the crossbar to make a big save, followed by a follow-up shot from VT that sailed wide to eliminate the threat with a goal kick.
The first scoring threat in the second half came in the 62nd minute when Virginia Tech took advantage of a Charlotte miscommunication. The Niners’ backline wasn’t on the same page from a goal kick and that created a turnover in the box. Virginia Tech came up with the ball just outside the six-yard box and took a sharp-angle shot but Wakeman was there yet again to make her fifth save of the night, matching her career-high from Thursday’s draw with UNCG.
With time winding down and the ball spending most of its time on Charlotte’s half of the pitch, the outcome looked bleak for the Niners. With less than five minutes to go, the Green and White mounted an attack up the pitch and had something working after Virginia Tech misplayed a ball after being pressured. Payton Patrick was there and scooped up the loose ball on the outside of the VT box before finding Bader. Bader took the shot without waiting to possess the ball and fired a rocket to the far side of the net that the Hokie keeper didn’t even have time to react to and leveled the score with three minutes to go.
Wakeman was called upon once more after the equalizer and was up to the challenge yet again, making her career-best sixth save of the match in the final minute before riding out the time for the draw.
UP NEXT
Charlotte wraps up its stretch at home on Thursday (Sept. 7) with a match against Florida. Slated to start at 5 p.m. at Transamerica Field, it will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools in women’s soccer.
