Ruiz Saves Game for Bison in 1-1 Tie

The Bethany Bison hosted the Wilmington Quakers on a perfect Saturday afternoon. The Quakers came in undefeated on the season, but 11 saves by Mathelyn Ruiz kept the Bison in the game.

A last second deflection by Ruiz off a free kick saved the game for Bethany, allowing them to tie Wilmington 1-1.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Wilmington kicked off and wasted no time moving the ball into the offensive third of the field. They forced two corners inside the first three minutes of the game, but were held to no score.

• The game became a possession battle after the fact. No forcing action happened until the Bison took advantage of a Quaker offsides. Jordan Palmer missed wide on a chance to score. That shot was built on by the Bethany offense when Shunnye Christopher took another shot minutes later. That shot was saved, and the Bethany offense slowed down. That ended up being their only shot on goal (apart from a later score).

• Ruiz had her first heroic sequence late in the first half. After Wilmington placed a great crosser off a corner, Ruiz saved the first shot to come her way right center. She then rallied to save another shot in the far left corner of the net. A Quaker then sent the ball wide left, releasing the pressure on the Bison defense.

• The Bison defended three more corners in the first half, a theme that would continue for the rest of the game with 10 more attempts in the second half. The Quakers had 16 total corners before the final buzzer sounded off. The home defense held strong on their field, bending but not breaking off any corner attempts.

• The scoring action happened in the blink of an eye. The Quaker goal came off of a Ruiz save, where she laid out to save a goal in the right corner of the net, but the ball rebounded directly to another Quaker forward who kicked in the first goal of the game.

• Bethany bounced back instantly. The Bison caught Wilmington taking their foot off the gas after getting on the board. Ally Barclay took the ball through the center of the Quaker defense to find Monica Bird with free space on the outside. A quick pass and a quicker shot resulted in a Bison goal to tie the game. 

• The Quakers continued to put pressure on the Bison defense, but Bird found herself with a counter attack opportunity to take the lead. The leading scorer for the Bison just missed, clanging off the top of the woodwork and keeping the game tied.

• Wilmington was living in the box for the last few minutes before time expired. Bethany was holding strong, but the atmosphere of Hoag field was tense. 

• Bethany traded a yellow card and a free kick instead of a wide open shot opportunity with just five seconds remaining on the clock.

• From the top of the box, Wilmington squared up for the kick, and sent a rocket to the left, just inside of the post. Ruiz made yet another acrobatic save, getting a hand on the ball and forcing it to roll out of bounds. 

• The Bison earn a tie in an intense, physical game.

Bethany (3-2-2) will begin conference play in their next matchup. They will travel to Grove City (3-3-1) for a night game following men's soccer. The kickoff is planned to be at 7pm Wednesday, September 25.