ATLANTA, GA. --- Carly Lafferty scored the lone goal, her second of the season, and Heidi Blankenship stopped a career-best 14 shots to earn Georgia State a 1-1 victory against regionally fifth-ranked Northeastern (8-3-3, 3-1-3) Friday night at Atlanta Silverbacks Park.

Georgia State moves to 7-4-4 (1-3-3) with the decision. The Panthers had a penalty kick saved by Northeastern goalkeeper Stephanie Gordon in the 105th minute, assuring the tie.

The Panthers opened the scoring in the 19th minute with freshman Carly Lafferty’s second career goal off of sophomore Erinique Owen’s assist. Lafferty played the ball into the goal box to Owen who navigated a touch pass back out to Lafferty at the top of the box. Lafferty let loose with a high shot to the middle of the net, putting the Panthers on top 1-0.

Georgia State’s defense rose to the challenge presented by a regionally-ranked opponent once again in the first half, limiting Northeastern to one shot on goal for the opening period.

In the second half, Northeastern launched their assault on the Georgia State end of the field, lobbing 27 total shots toward the net, landing 14 on goal. Junior Heidi Blankenship registered 13 saves in the second half alone.

In the 77th minute, Northeastern would even the score. Off of a corner kick, Northeastern midfielder Kelly Matthews had a shot stopped by Blankenship. Unable to corral the rebound, Georgia State surrendered the equalizing goal as Liza Rebello scored on an empty net.

“You have to give Northeastern credit for the good part of the second half that they dominated,” said Georgia State head coach Domenic Martelli. “I think tonight proved a point that we are a very good team when we do what we do well. It was a very good battle. When you look at the offensive power that Northeastern has, we did such a great job to hold them down to scoring on a corner kick.”

Georgia State had several chances through the game with two Apryl Goodwin breakaways being denied by the Northeastern defense. In the 86th minute, Lani Huntley had a ball deflected toward the goal that found Sarah Dashiell open for a header, but the officials whistled the play dead due to a hand ball.

In overtime, Georgia State took the reins back from the relentless Northeastern offense, controlling possession for much of both periods.

In the 105th minute, Erinique Owen got the ball downfield to a streaking Apryl Goodwin who was dragged down inside the goal box. The officials called a foul, showing a yellow card to Northeastern’s Danielle Gordon. Sophomore Bri Cagle came on to take the penalty shot, but was denied by a diving Stephanie Gordon to keep the score even.

The final five minutes ticked off the clock without incident, leaving the game a 1-1 (2 OT) tie.

“Obviously, that could have been three points and we let two get away from us,” said Martelli. “More here than in our two other ties, but I’m very proud of the girls. We played one of the best teams in the Mid-Atlantic and came away with a 1-1 tie. We’re a young team, they’re a young team, we’re creating a great rivalry. Anybody can beat anybody on any day, and that’s what’s great about this conference. We’re proving everyday that we can play with these teams.”

Next on the calendar for the Panthers is regionally fourth-ranked Hofstra who visit Panthersville this Sunday at 1 p.m.  for the final home game of the season. Seniors Kari Quinn, Caitlin Smith, and Virginia Wood will be recognized fifteen minutes prior to kickoff.