By: Scotty Grigsby  

CIU women's soccer battled the Point University Skyhawks on Saturday in the Ram's first AAC action of the season. The Rams would leave West Point with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the Skyhawks.  

The Rams dominated the first half early with a score from freshman Haley Hernandez. The Ram forward was played a through ball by Taylor Kyle and would one time the shot into the net. The Skyhawks would recover and stall the Ram attack for the rest of the first half. Both the Rams and Skyhawks were even with 5 shots between the pair of them.  

The Skyhawks started the second half fast with a score in the 50th minute from Jasmine Marquez to draw even with the Rams. CIU would take 7 shots, with 6 on goal but were not able to capitalize. Both teams would battle but fail to gain an upper hand for the rest of the second half. The game was tied 1-1 as the second half expired and entered the 1st overtime period.  

Five minutes into overtime CIU would draw a penalty kick inside the Skyhawks box. Rams senior Sotiria Tsilionis would score on the penalty giving CIU their first conference win of 2019. Head coach Kara Farnsworth commented after the game "Great win to start conference play. We are pleased with how the team worked with one another and battled throughout the game. We're looking forward to our next challenge on Monday."  

The Ram's continue in conference play on Monday, September 10th against Southeastern University.