NORTHFIELD, Vt.- The Norwich Women's Soccer team opened Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on their home turf when they played host to Rivier Saturday night.

Off the opening kickoff, the Cadets pressed the attack. The pressure yielded two corner kicks and a shot attempt, with the third corner of the half resulting in the icebreaker with Lindsey Duggan (Belmont, N.H.) finding Bella Roy (Weare, N.H.) by the back post for a header to put Norwich ahead.

Four minutes later, the Raiders answered with a corner of their own resulting in a header goal with Nadia Laxa finding Samantha Franks to tie the game. Despite the conceded goal, Norwich pressed the other way, and would take the lead after Kat Probst (Gouverneur, N.Y.) centered it to Celine Juneau (Chazy, N.Y.) who passed it to her right for Duggan. Duggan's shot from 27 yards out eluded the goalkeeper's hand going just under the crossbar to break the deadlock in the 37th minute and giving Norwich the one goal advantage at the break.

Out of the break, Rivier began to heavily press the attack. Four minutes into the frame, Kaylee Magoon sent a ball to the top right corner to knot the contest at two. Smelling the opportunity, the Raiders kept pressing as they generated numerous opportunities before Emily Harper broke the deadlock.

Nine minutes later, Rivier keeper Maya Puma fouled Probst in the box, leading to a penalty kick. Duggan did not miss on her opportunity, sending a ball to the bottom right corner with her left foot to tie the game once again. Both sides had opportunities in the dying minutes, but the score remained at a three all draw in a game that saw Duggan notch two goals and an assist while Rebecca Karis (Fayetteville, N.C.) recorded five saves in goal.

Norwich will continue GNAC competition when they travel to Anna Maria on Sept. 11 at 7 PM.