DANBURY, Conn. - Junior midfielder Mackenzie Sam (Brookfield, Conn.) scored the Wolves goal in the 40th minute, as the Western Connecticut State University Wolves and the visiting Johnson and Wales University Wildcats played to a 1-1 draw in women's soccer action this afternoon at Westside Complex.  WestConn moves to 0-1-1 with the tie in its home opener, while the Wildcats are now 0-0-2.  The Wolves play next against Rowan in the Rams Classic at Farmingdale State on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Johnson and Wales plays at Lasell on Wednesday at 4 p.m.

Johnson and Wales put the majority of the offensive pressure on early, forcing Wolves junior keeper Kasey Donnelly (New Milford, Conn.) to make three of her five saves before senior Myah Croze (Bristol, Conn.) took the first WestConn shot in the 32nd minute.  The Wolves scored the first goal, however, when Sam controlled a pass from junior Suzana Imetovski (Seymour, Conn.) behind her defender on the right side and fired a shot from just outside the box over the head of Wildcat goalie Carly McCrumb and into the net with 4:39 left in the first half.  The Wolves got two corner kicks and WestConn sophomore midfielder Miranda Martincic (Whitestone, N.Y.) got off a shot that was stopped by McCrumb in the closing minutes before the break.

The score remained at 1-0 well into the second half although Wolves rookie goalkeeper Gracen Regan (Monroe, N.J.) needed to make five saves to keep the Wildcats off the board until the 80th minute.  WestConn nearly took a 2-0 lead in the 57th minute when a shot by junior midfielder Adriana Alfano (New Milford, Conn.) caromed off the right post and again when a header by Imetovski hit the cross bar in the 70th minute.  Johnson and Wales broke through  when a cross from the left by Katherine Dufour sailed high across the box to Madison Sanborn who one-timed the ball into the net with 9:06 left to play. Regan and Wildcat goalie Leah Bragaw both had to make a save in the final nine minutes to preserve the stalemate.  Bragaw finished with two stops.