BAKERSFIELD, Calif.—Bakersfield and Northern Iowa played a 1-1 tie in women's soccer action Friday night at the Main Soccer Field.

Taylor French (Sr., Monrovia, Calif., Maranatha HS) connected on a free kick from 35 yards out at 43:52 of the first half to give Bakersfield a 1-0 advantage. The Panthers tied the score in the 63rd minute when Charlotte Jones' sent a corner kick toward the CSUB goal. The ball was deflected by a 'Runner defender to Caitlyn Fuller who scored from right in front the net.

UNI went down a player when Jones was ejected with 11 minutes to play in the second half for receiving her second yellow card of the match.  Despite going a player down, Northern Iowa held the Roadrunners off, forcing the tie.

“I would have loved to have the win, but I can't fault our team for effort, commitment, grit, and work,” said Bakersfield head coach Gary Curneen. “ I think we are still making strides in those areas. I thought we could have put the game to bed in the first ten minutes of the second half, but we kept UNI in the game. To their credit, they came back and made it a real exciting game.”

The Roadrunners are at No. 23 Long Beach State Sunday night. Kick is set for 7 p.m.

“Sunday is a tough game,” Curneen said. “Long Beach is 23rd in the country, but we'll be up for it. We'll get them prepared and we'll give it a real whack. That will be more growth and I think today was a lot of progress.”

~www.GoRunners.com~