SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. --- A flurry of action midway through the second half turned out to be the only offense from either side as the Golden Eagle soccer team played Slippery Rock to a 2-2 draw on Saturday afternoon. Clarion's Ciara DiMauro tallied the first two goals of her collegiate career to keep pace with The Rock, helping Clarion snap a four-game losing streak in conference play.
 
The Golden Eagles withstood a persistent attack from The Rock in the first half, with Slippery Rock peppering the opposition with nine shots, including five that goalkeeper Alex Velez was forced to turn away. In weathering that storm, though, the Golden Eagles kept themselves in the game, even after Skylar Munnikhuysen finally snuck one past Velez in the 51^st minute.
 
DiMauro made sure the Slippery Rock advantage did not last long. In the 53^rd minute, Nicole Brown lobbed a beautiful lead pass from the middle of the field to the right side, putting the ball on DiMauro's foot. The freshman finished with a curving shot that glanced off the hands Leah Allman and into the corner of the net for the goal.
 
The first-year player struck again just a few minutes later to briefly give her team the lead. Clarion threw in from the Slippery Rock side of the field and Kylee Cross used some nifty footwork to advance a pass upfield to DiMauro. She settled the ball and fired a shot with her left foot that deflected off defender Faith Diffenbacher's knee and into the net.
 
Munnikhuysen scored again, this time in the 57^th minute, to cap a six-minute stretch that saw the two sides combine for two goals apiece. The Golden Eagles and The Rock exchanged quality scoring chances in the final minutes of play, with Velez stopping a shot by Diffenbacher in the 87^th minute and Allman turning away Cross in the 89^th.
 
Clarion nearly managed one more quality scoring opportunity with less than 30 seconds remaining, when Brown lobbed a crosser to Alyssa Aquilio on the left hand side. Aquilio could not quite settle the ball for a shot.
  Read Full Article