GAFFNEY, S.C. — Lucie Bertrand scored her second goal of the match with 4:55 remaining as Limestone University rallied for a 3-2 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women’s soccer Sunday afternoon.
The Saints (4-6-2, 3-4-1 SAC) led 1-0 midway through the second half, but for the second straight match the Pioneers (3-8-1, 1-5-1 SAC) came back to take the lead on two goals from Addison Rishling, the latter coming in the 76th minute.
Three minutes after Rishling’s second goal, the Saints tied the game on a goal from Lucia Hidalgo in the 79th minute, then went ahead on the 86th-minute tally from Bertrand, who had scored in the 39th minute to open the scoring.
Limestone outshot Tusculum 9-3 in the first half, with Pioneer keeper Angel Chase making five saves. The Saints would go up 1-0 at 38:30 as Bertrand collected a header pass from Delaney Williams, split two defenders and beat Chase to the far post.
Chase would make four more saves in the first 18 minutes of the second half to keep the deficit at 1-0, and the Pioneers would break through at 72:41 as Rishling picked up a loose ball and took a shot from 25 yards that Saints keeper Leanne Ramm tried to punch away but failed, tying the score at 1-1.
Rishling gave the Pioneers a 2-1 lead just over three minutes later as she avoided two defenders and sent a rocket from 20 yards over Ramm and into the goal for her team-high sixth of the season at 75:49.
Limestone came back to tie the match at 78:46, as Tusculum cleared a corner kick but Bertrand collected the loose ball and chipped a pass toward Hidalgo near the front of the goal. Hidalgo was ruled onside and deflected a shot past Chase as she bowled over the Pioneer keeper, knotting the match at 2-2 and sending Chase to the sidelines with an injury.
The Saints would score the match-winner at 85:05 off the rush, with a pass from Berta Del Hoyo hitting Bertrand in stride, which she finished off past Pioneer backup keeper Noemie Tartrou from 10 yards away.
Limestone had a 20-11 advantage in shots and a 6-3 edge in corner kicks. Chase made nine saves for the Pioneers before departing, while Ramm had five saves for the Saints.
The Pioneers return to the road on Saturday, Oct. 26 to face Coker at 4 p.m. The Cobras are tied for fifth place in the SAC at 3-4-1 and have a 6-4-2 overall record, and will enter the match coming off a 2-1 victory at Anderson on Saturday.
