by Derek Toney

Miranda Gordon-Zigel scored with 1:39 remaining in regulation, giving Friends School a 5-5 tie with St. Paul's School in an IAAM A Conference indoor soccer contest at DuBurns Arena in Canton Tuesday afternoon.

Junior Flannery McArdle scored three goals for the Quaker (6-2-1 overall, 5-2-1 league) and sophomore Marian Donald had a goal. Junior Kate Evans had a goal and two assists for St. Paul's (2-2-3, 1-2-3).

Gordon-Zigel's tally capped a comeback for the Charles Street school which trailed 4-1 at halftime. Friends coach Tom Randall was pleased with the final outcome as he was shorthanded due to injuries and illness.

"We really had to put things together to make it work," said Randall. "We're trying to keep everybody together which is kind of tough at this time of the year with exams and college visits."

"We're happy that we pulled it together," said McArdle. "Coming off the break was tough, but I thought we played well towards the end. It was rough because we haven't practiced in awhile."

The Quaker got its soccer-feet under them in the second half with three consecutive scores, capped by McArdle's final tally with seven minutes remaining. Less two minutes later, Brigit Quinn finished a pass from Evans giving St. Paul's the lead back.

Gordon-Zigel, a senior who also plays goalie, took a miss by McArdle and placed it into the left side of the goal. The Quaker currently stands second (16 points) in the conference behind undefeated Institute of Notre Dame (21 points), which has won five of the past six championships.

"There's not one team that's head and heels over everybody else," said Randall, whose team plays Baltimore Lutheran Wednesday and Notre Dame Prep Friday, both at DuBurns Arena. "There's a lot of good competition, and I'm looking for us to finish strong."

Friends fell behind 3-0 in the opening half as Olivia Kimmel, Alexa Curley and Kelsy Mugele scored for St. Paul's. McArdle got the Quaker on the scoreboard with three minutes remaining, but Evans tallied with a more than minute left.

A shot by Donald got through the legs of St. Paul's goalie Kelly Muedeking for a goal, and the comeback was started for Friends. McArdle scored on a deflection, then added the tying score after the Gators were called for a hand ball.

"You can get up by that many goals against a good team and think you can just walk to the end," said Gators' coach Don Keener, whose saw his team tied for the third consecutive contest. "You got to play for all 48 minutes. We can play anybody in the league."

Friends School 5, St. Paul's School 5
at DuBurns Arena
Goals: Friends-McArdle 3, Donald 1, Gordon-Zigel; St. Paul's-Curley, Mugele, Evans, Quinn, Kimmel.