SAN ANTONIO – In a wild match that had five yellow yards, three penalty kicks and one red card, Louisiana Tech and UTSA ended in a 2-2 tie on Thursday night at West Park Athletics Complex.
 
None of the above happened before Marcela Gallo gave LA Tech (5-7-3, 1-3-2 C-USA) a 1-0 lead in the 65th minute. 
 
It all started with Valeria Rios making a brilliant run through the midfield, maintaining possession before passing it off to Gallo who took a touch and then fired a left-footed bullet that found the upper right corner for the goal.
 
The chaos started two minutes later when Josie Studer was given a yellow card in the box after trying to box out a Roadrunner making a play on a long ball.  UTSA (7-4-2, 2-2-1 C-USA) was given a penalty kick and Isa Hernandez tied things up with the conversion.
 
The match seemed destined for overtime until the 89th minute when a Roadrunner make a sliding tackle in the box that tripped up Kalli Matlock, a play that was whistled as a foul giving the Lady Techsters a PK opportunity.  Studer calmly stepped up and planted the ball into the back of the net.
 
It was not 30 seconds later when Matlock was on the other end of an unfortunate foul called in the box.  The Roadrunners' equalized again via a PK, this one off the foot of Marlee Fray. 
 
LA Tech had one strong scoring chance to grab the golden goal in overtime.  It came in the 98th minute of the first OT period when Carmen Suarez found space and sent a strike on target.  The ball clipped the bottom of the crossbar and came straight down before being cleared away.    
 
QUOTABLES
Interim head coach Steve Voltz
 
We talked to our players before the match about the environment and how it was going to play a factor.  Despite everything that happened, I was proud of the team for being very composed.  Even though we were playing on the road in a hostile environment, we were not satisfied with the tie.  It was tough coming away with just a tie.  We continue to be right there in all of these conference matches."      
 
NOTABLES

• LA Tech now leads the all-time series over UTSA, 6-2-1, after Thursday night's draw.This was the third match between the two teams that has gone into overtime
• After falling in its first three conference matches, LA Tech is on a three-match unbeaten streak in league play with one win and two draws
• LA Tech played its fourth overtime match of the season (they are 1-0-3 in those matches)
• The Lady Techsters have had back-to-back games end in ties for the first time since 2008
• Marcela Gallo netted her second goal of the season (has only taken four shots all year)
• Josie Studer improved to 2-2 on penalty kicks and now has a career-high and team-high four goals
• Valeria Rios registered her first assist of the season and the second of her career
• Libe Banuelos improved to 3-5-3 in goal this season and now has 54 saves on the season

UP NEXT
LA Tech returns to Ruston for its home finale against North Texas on Friday, Oct. 22.  Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Robert Mack Caruthers Field.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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