TULSA, Oklahoma – The Northwestern State soccer team, along with first-year head coach Stuart Gore, has preached throughout the offseason the importance of taking their offensive capabilities to the next level.
 
Few would have expected to witness the product the Lady Demons presented Thursday night.  

NSU (0-0-1) opened its season with a 4-4 tie against Oral Roberts (0-0-1) at the Case Soccer Complex, scoring three straight goals to erase a two-goal deficit.

An offensive game by all accounts, both the Lady Demons and ORU had their way at the opponent's goal. NSU took a staggering 25 shot attempts at Golden Eagles' goalkeeper Louisa Ramsauer, nine of which were on target. Oral Roberts logged 19 shots, 10 of which were shots on goal.  

"Offensively, we showed how dangerous we truly can be," Gore said. "Four different goal scorers shows just how lethal we are capable of being on the attack, and with the season just starting, we've a long way to go before we're satisfied."  

The opening minutes of the match belonged almost entirely to the Lady Demons. At the 10-minute mark, senior forward Kalee Williams found the bottom-left corner of the net, taking the initial lead for NSU off a shared assist from both Jalen Donaldson and Olivia Draguicevich.

NSU put up seven shots to ORU's one in the first 19 minutes of play. 

Entering the back half of the opening period, momentum shifted to favor the opposition, as ORU's Marta Nieto scored the opening goal for the Golden Eagles.
 
ORU continued to own possession through the remainder of the period, taking five consecutive shots as time progressed.  
 
ORU's offensive push ultimately ended with a high-left goal for junior forward Samantha See, giving Oral Roberts a 2-1 lead with 40 seconds remaining in the half.
 
NSU opened the second period with possession, which ended in midfielder Samantha Hanking and ORU's Samantha See trading a shot apiece, neither of which paid off.
 
At the 61-minute mark, five Lady Demons had logged at least two shot attempts (Hanking, Williams, Donaldson, and Draguicevich).

At the 67-minute mark, ORU built their lead to 3-1 with a low-right goal by Kennedy Langbartels.  

Following kickoff at 67:17, preseason Southland Conference first-team defender Natalee Henry took control of the possession and took the ball unassisted in for a low-left goal 68:03 to slice Oral Roberts lead to 3-2.

Another shot attempt at 69:09 by ORU's Samantha Guzman resulted in Senior Acelya Aydogmus' fourth save of the night, followed up by a Lady Demon push downfield, ending in a game-tying shot to low-right by sophomore Kyle Nolen at 69:45.
 
A furious battle in front of both nets brought the match back to a tie, with three goals scored in less than three minutes.  

The scoring frenzy was yet to be finished, however. At the 82-minute mark, Donaldson gave the lead to the Lady Demons off a low-left goal, assisted by Caroline Hilliard, which would be short-lived.  

With five minutes remaining in regulation, freshman midfielder Sophie Nash brought the match to its third tying tally, which was the final goal of the evening.
 
The scoring clinic cooled off with the end of regulation. NSU's Donaldson recorded her fourth and fifth shot attempts in extra time, however no further scoring was to be had by either team, resulting in a 4-4 tie to end the evening.  

"We showed great character tonight, coming back from 3-1, Gore said. "I'm very proud of how we handled our business tonight, but now we have to look ahead." 

NSU continues its road schedule with a Sunday match at SMU. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.