Pekin 2, Limestone 2

Soccer tie
PEKIN -- The Pekin Girls soccer team was about three minutes away from equaling last year’s program high for wins. But Limestone senior Ashley Pumphrey brought the Rockets even with her second goal of the game forcing the Dragons to settle for a 2-2 tie.

The Dragons got on the board first. Sam Grimes placed a corner kick just past the near post. Aimee St. Andre timed her jump perfectly and headed it past Limestone keeper Britnee Clough 17 minutes into the game. About ten minutes later, miscommunication on the Pekin end led to Pumphrey’s first goal.

Heavy rains couldn’t keep Pekin from dominating the ball in the second half. It was St. Andre again, dribbling past three Rocket defenders and finding the net to give Pekin a 2-1 lead.

It remained 2-1 is how it stayed until the 77th minute. A Limestone free kick found its way through to Pumphrey in the box who lofted a shot into the Dragons’ goal.

“That was a tough one to swallow,” Pekin coach Edgar Sandoval admitted. “We dominated the game. We out shot them 16 to 4, but only have a tie to show for it. And the ball wasn’t on our defensive third very much at all.”

“In soccer that’s just how it ends up sometimes,” he added. We should have won, but I’m still pleased with the effort our girls gave.”
Pekin (5-5-1) next hosts Peoria Central at 4:30, Tuesday in a Mid-State 6 Conference match at Coal Miners Park.

Last year when we lost to Limestone, that was the only game where I was disappointed in the girls' effort. This year, the effort was there with the exception of two lapses in concentration. We controlled the ball much more, had many more shots, but things like this happen and I give credit to Limestone for hanging in there. It's tough to lose someone who scores as much as Kim Knaub, but from what I understand they've got a great freshman class coming in.