Rush Women Record Second Draw of SoCal Road Trip
A second half penalty kick earned by Danica Evans and converted by captain Brittany Bock should have been enough to earn the three points for the Rush Women against the LA Strikers but instead it was an equalizing goal and unfortunately there were no more goals to be found. “Should have been” are the operative words as the Rush Women played one of their best games of the year and despite multiple opportunities in both halves, the win still escaped the Rush. Evans had perhaps the best opportunity of the first half but was denied by the Striker goal keeper. Kendall Johnson and Gabbi Miranda dominated a left side that was able to create a number of chances down the left hand side of the field but the final pass or finish eluded the Rush Women. After a brief spell that saw the Strikers create a few dangerous chances of their own, the work of Rush midfielders Bock and Melinda Ingalls lead the Rush. When an LA free kick was curled into the box, forward Kendall Johnson was found in defense making an athletic diving header clearance only to see the great effort carom off a Striker attacker and bounce apologetically into the Rush net for a 1-0 Striker lead. Once again, the Rush Women did not quit and the work continued. The PK was a great answer and though pressure continued until the final whistle, the go ahead goal Rush was so desperately seeking could not be found. After the tie, Rush Coach Erik Bushey commented, “I am proud of the team. 
Our work was yet again outstanding but tonight we did more than wear our hearts on our sleeve. We added many moments of some nice soccer. It was a good passing game for us tonight. We can regret not scoring more goals but we can feel good about the number of chances our soccer created and the number of dangerous opportunities we created. We deserved more tonight, but this is the game. We are frustrated by not getting the points tonight, but we will move on and work even harder to earn a victory against Pali on Sunday.”
The Rush Women play their last game of the three game road trip on Sunday at Cal-State Fullerton against division leading Pali Blues.
