PENSACOLA, Fla. – It was a tale of two halves in No. 23 West Florida's 2-2 draw against Valdosta State on Sunday in Pensacola. After the tie, UWF stands at 6-2-1 overall with a 3-1-1 record in Gulf South Conference play.
 
Things moved slowly in the first 45 minutes for UWF, with VSU taking a quick lead in the seventh minute on GSC goals leader Ashley Lewis's header and extending the lead to 2-0 with a header from Taylor Snell in the 32nd minute. Valdosta State outshot UWF 6-4 in the first half.
 
The Argonauts did, however, create a handful of chances in the first half, with shots from Shantell Thompson, who led all players with three shots on goal, and Jessica Quixley going on target.
 
West Florida came out in the second half like a completely different team, and Quixley cut the deficit to 2-1 with a laser shot into the upper 90 from outside the 18-yard box just 46 seconds into the half. It was the first of 12 shots the Argos would take in the final 45 minutes of regulation, which included eight shots on goal.
 
Quixley moved into second place on the team with four goals on the year, and she ranks third among all Argonauts with eight points.
 
UWF owned possession and stayed in its attacking third over the next 29 minutes, taking six shots and earning two corner kicks. The second of those corners found Hannah Wooten, another freshman, and Wooten converted the header to even the score at 2-2 in the 75th minute.
 
Leonie Kreil was credited with the assist after delivering a near-perfect cross from the corner. She now ranks second in the league with five assists on the year.
 
West Florida kept the momentum going in the final 15 minutes of regulation, taking four shots on goal but coming up just short in converting them and holding VSU to just one shot. In fact, VSU was able to take just two shots in the second half – one came in the 48th minute and the other came in the 86th.
 
Things evened out statistically in the two Golden Goal periods, though West Florida still seemed to have an edge in possession. Over those final 20 minutes, each team had just one shot apiece.
 
Georgia Bailey played a scoreless 70 minutes in goal, picking up a save.
 
UWF will continue Gulf South Conference play and visit Shorter and Lee next Friday and Sunday.