BOX SCORE PHILADELPHIA – The Saint Francis University women's soccer team used a late Siobhan Bross (Danville, Pa./Danville Area) goal to rally for a 1-1 tie against Penn at Rhodes Field Thursday night.
 
The draw wrapped up a five-game road swing for the Red Flash which is battling through the Northeast Conference's toughest interleague segment.  As of Thursday evening, BennettRank.com estimated SFU strength of schedule at 124 – Central Connecticut checked in with the NEC's next toughest slate at 243.
 
"We started off strong and executed game plan very well in the first half," said Flash head coach Brenda van Stralen.  "Penn came out strong in the second half and we had to battle to stay in it.  Give both teams a lot of credit, but I was particularly happy to see us come back and have a chance to win it as well."
 
After a slow start and a scoreless first half, Penn's Anastasiya Chevtchenko scored the game's first goal in the 60th minute. After Lindsey Sawczuk worked to win a 50/50 ball, she pushed it to Chevtchenko who turned and fired a left-footed shot from 25 yards out that slipped under the cross bar for the lead.
 
It took 20 minutes for the Red Flash to knot things up. In the 80th minute, Bross got the ball about 25 yards directly out, was able to fend off a Penn defender, and rocketed a left-footed shot that had Kalijah Terilli futilely diving to her left.
 
Clara Midgley had an opportunity to put the Quakers back on top in regulation, getting the ball just behind the Red Flash defense. However, with a defender riding her from the right, and Romina Kunze (Frankfurt, Germany/Carl-von-Weinberg-Schule) closing quickly, the senior pushed a shot high over the crossbar.
 
In the final seconds of overtime, Saint Francis' Eloa Nascimento was left alone in front, but her shot from about 20 yards went well over Terilli's head.
 
The Red Flash returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Longwood at 2 p.m.