The Oglethorpe women's soccer team opened its season with a tough-luck loss to the visiting Covenant Scots Tuesday night at the Oglethorpe Track and Field. The Stormy Petrels were able to come back from an early deficit but a golden goal from the visitors in extra time spoiled the party and gave them a 2-1 victory.

The Petrels got off to a slow start as the visitors enjoyed most of the run-of-play in the first half. The Scots outshot the Petrels 10-3 over the course of the half, including 6-3 on goal. Senior goalkeeper Sarah Craig was mostly equal to the task over the course of the period, stopping five of the six shots she faced. However, Covenant won a penalty kick in the 37th minute and converted it for a 1-0 lead headed into halftime.

The Petrels were much brighter in the second half, though, and were rewarded for it early in the period. In the 56th minute, a long ball sent ahead to Oglethorpe senior forward Jasmine Jakes resulted in her getting fouled in the penalty area. Senior midfielder Claire Stauber stepped up and converted the resulting penalty kick to tie the score at 1-1.

For the remainder of the half, the two teams traded scoring opportunites, but neither was able to convert. Covenant outshot the Petrels by a slim 8-7 margin for the half, and put five shots on goal to Oglethorpe's two. Senior goalkeeper Bailey Evans was able to make all five saves, though, several of the acrobatic variety, to keep the score deadlocked.

The game went into golden-goal extra time and Covenant had the better of the chances as the additional stanza began. They were able to force two saves from Evans, but she was equal to the task on both. The second one resulted in a corner kick in the 93rd minute, however. The Scots' Hannah King sent the ball into the middle of the box where Anna Porch was able to head it into the right side of goal, giving the visitors a 2-1 victory.

For the game, Covenant outshot Oglethorpe 21-10, including 14-3 on goal. They took five corner kicks to Oglethorpe's four, as well, but Petrel goalkeepers were able to come up with 12 saves to the two that Covenant goalie Rachel Lemay managed.

"I was proud to see us come back with the type of second half that we did against a good Covenant team," said Head Coach Alan Woods. "We bounced back very well from the first half and came back to tie the game. In the end, some poor marking undid us in overtime, but I was proud to see how competitive we were in getting back into the game. We're looking to build on this going forward into our next game on Monday. We got better as the game went along and that's a very positive thing that we can take forward while looking to eradicate the things we did that got us into the first-half hole."

The Petrels will next take the field on Monday, as they welcome Young Harris to Atlanta for a non-conference matchup at 7 p.m. After that, they'll hit the road for three straight games away from home. They'll first travel to Florida to take on Southeastern and Trinity Baptist next Thursday and Saturday, respectively, then they'll take a day trip to Alabama to battle Talladega on Sept. 22.