The Basics
Score: Oral Roberts 2 – Texas A&M-Commerce 2
Record: ORU (0-0-1) – TAMUC (0-0-1)
Location: Lion Soccer Field (Commerce, Texas)

COMMERCE, Texas – The Oral Roberts women's soccer team earned a draw, 2-2, in a hard fought season opener against last season's Southland Conference runner up Texas A&M-Commerce Thursday evening.

After the Lions opened the scoring in the eighth minute, the Golden Eagles quickly responded with a goal of their own. Ariana Fresquez lofted a perfect ball to senior Jordan Grigsby who headed the ball right past the keeper at the 13th minute.

ORU maintained the pressure and pounced on the Lions right out of a water break. Sophomore Julia Thasaphong fielded a beautiful pass from Samantha Guzman, a Summit League Preseason Player to Watch, and launched the ball past the keeper into the left corner of the net to put ORU in front, 2-1, in the 21^st minute.

Oral Roberts and A&M-Commerce continued in a back-and-forth battle until the Lions took advantage of a corner kick that resulted in Hailey Griffin heading in a loose ball, tying the match 2-2 in the 30^th minute.

The teams would remain tied until the final whistle. Both programs continued to fight for the rest of the game, with ORU pushing the Lions to their limits in the final 10 minutes.
The Golden Eagles put together a flurry of shot attempts near the end but couldn't find the back of the net.

Thasaphong had an opportunity to give ORU the go-ahead goal at the 87^th minute, but was called offsides. From there the Lions ran out the clock and the teams ended with a draw.

Inside the Box Score
 
ORU outshot the A&M-Commerce 22-14, but both programs had six of those on goal.
 
The first half was a shootout with the Golden Eagles taking 13 shots and the Lions shooting 11, but ORU turned up the heat in the second half tripling A&M-Commerce's shot attempts 9-3.

24 different Golden Eagles earned playing time tonight while 22 players for TAMUC saw action.
 
Up Next
 
The Golden Eagles are back in action Sunday, August 20 when they take on the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman at 7 p.m.
For the latest information on ORU women's soccer, follow @ORUWSoccer on Twitter or go to www.ORUAthletics.com. Fans can also receive updates on the team by downloading the ORU Athletics App in the Google Play or App Store.