PELLA — The Central College women's soccer team secured another home game in the conference tournament by registering a 1-1 tie against Loras College on Tuesday.

Finishing the regular season with a 5-1-2 mark in league play (14-2-2 overall), the Dutch will either have a bye into the semifinals as the No. 2 seed or host a quarterfinal match this Saturday as the No. 3 seed pending the result of Luther College and the University of Dubuque later Tuesday night. Loras (12-1-3, 6-0-2 conference) clinched the Iowa Conference crown outright.

Needing a win to share the title with the Duhawks, Central got an early lead from forward Erin Manion (sophomore, Delafield, Wis., Kettle Moraine HS) who scored unassisted three-and-half minutes into the match.

"We talked about trying to jump on them in the first five minutes, especially with the wind," coach Mike Kobylinski said. "Erin has proven all year that she is one of the best offensive players in the conference. If you give her a chance, she's going to put it away."

Lauren Bolnius of Loras fired off an equalizer at 81:29 to send the match to overtime, where neither team could score.  It's the second tie in the last three years between the two teams as they finished with an identical result in Pella in 2015.
           
"Anytime you have a chance to be a regular-season champion in the last game you are doing something right," Kobylinski said. "We've got a pretty good record at the end of the regular season."

Freshman goalkeeper Taylor Golt (Crystal Lake, Ill., Prairie Ridge HS) had a career-high six saves while limiting the Duhawks to one goal for the second time this season. Kobylinski cited Lauren Goeke (junior, Ballwin, Mo., Parkway South HS) for her defensive-minded play in the midfield.

"Taylor was phenomenal in goal," Kobylinski said. "Lauren was one of the best players on the field today."

Central finished with 15 shots and seven on goal. Midfielder Olivia Denham (junior, Bondurant, Bondurant-Farrar HS) had four shot attempts while Manion and Elise Askelsen (forward, sophomore, Indianola) had two attempts on goal.

"Olivia had a couple of chances," Kobylinski said. "She's so quick that she's going to get in behind the defense, it's just a matter of being confident in putting it away."

With a Luther win or a tie, the Dutch will be the No. 2 seed and host a semifinal match next Wednesday. A Dubuque win would give the Spartans the No. 2 seed, unless they give up three or more goals and win by only a single goal. The official bracket for the league tournament will not be available until late Tuesday night.

"We still have work to do," Kobylinski said. "We're excited to play at home, we've been undefeated here for the last two years."