BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — The Rice and Western Kentucky soccer teams battled for 90 minutes of regulation and two additional overtime periods before finishing in a 3-3 deadlock on a rain-soaked Sunday afternoon in Bowling Green, Ky.

With the team's first tie of the season Rice is now 5-7-1 overall and 3-3-1 in C-USA games. The Owls also picked up a coveted point in the league standings to close out the weekend action in eighth place (with Old Dominion) on the conference leaderboard. Rice and ODU both have 10 points in the C-USA standings based on three points for a win and one point for a tie. Western Kentucky fell to 4-7-4 overall and 2-4-2 in conference.

Rice opened the scoring midway through the first half. In the 22nd minute Lianne Mananquil lined a corner kick to Annie Walker, who found the back of the WKU net for her third goal of the season. The Owls were back on the offensive again in the 35th minute with Mananquil playing to Marissa Topolski, who quickly crossed the ball into traffic from the right side. Senior Dominique Mazero headed the ball in for her second goal of the season.

Western Kentucky battled back to get a score just before the intermission, but a Hilltopper own-goal in the 55th minute put Rice up again by two, 3-1. WKU proceeded to rally for goals in the 62nd and 73rd minutes to tie the match 3-3. The score was deadlocked for the remainder of regulation plus the maximum of two 10-minute overtime periods where the first team score is the winner.

For the match the Hilltoppers held a 20-15 advantage in shots while Rice led in corner kicks 6-5. The Owls are 0-1-2 in their last three times to play overtime, and have not won an OT match since October of 2016 (at Florida Atlantic).

"It was a tough-fought match for both teams," said Rice head coach Nicky Adams. "The conditions today made it tough for both teams to get any rhythm. I thought we scored some great goals today from two of our seniors. I am looking forward to celebrating our seniors when we play at home this weekend."

The Owls have concluded the rugged weekend road swing that began with a trip to Marshall on Thursday (Oct. 11). Rice next returns to Holloway Field for its final two C-USA home games of the regular season on Oct. 19 & 21. The Blue & Gray host FIU on Friday at 7 pm, followed by Florida Atlantic on Sunday at 1 pm. The Rice seniors will be honored before the start of Friday's match.

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