PLYMOUTH, Wis. – Malaya Sperber (So.-Cedar Grove, Wis.) scored a pair of goals to continue her late-season scoring binge and the Lakeland University women's soccer team finished in a 2-2 tie with St. Norbert College Wednesday night at John Taylor Memorial Field.

The Muskies played well against the Green Knights, to the point where a tie after an SNC goal in the 86th minute felt like settling after Lakeland led for a good portion of the second half. The Muskies still were able to snap a 12-game losing streak in the series against the Green Knights in moving to 2-12-2 overall this season and 1-9-1 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.

Sperber worked hard to score two more goals, giving her six goals over Lakeland's last five matches and eight goals on the season, a number now tied for third-most in the NACC. Her first goal came in the 25th minute, after stealing the ball from behind from one SNC defender, dribbling past another and getting to a one-on-one with goalkeeper Leah Hess, where she chipped the ball past from 12 yards out into the right back corner of the net to give the Muskies a 1-0 lead.

The Green Knights (3-12-2 overall, 3-5-2 NACC) scored in the 32nd minute to tie the game, but Sperber put Lakeland back ahead in the second half in the 61st minute. The Muskies forward stole a pass between defenders near midfield and had nothing but Hess between her and the goal. Sperber dribbled in until once again beating Hess, this time from 15 yards out to make it 2-1.

Lakeland held the lead at that time despite being outshot 16-3 to that point in the game, but rather than becoming tentative with the lead, the Muskies were steady and even increased their attack. The back line of Emily Guy (Jr.-Glendale Heights, Ill.), Brianna Love (Sr.-Levittown, Pa.), Allison Solberg-Kieler (Sr.-Ridgeway, Wis.) and Charmiss Tucker (So.-Chesapeake, Va.) allowed few good opportunities in the second half, and goalkeeper Addi Reimer (Fr.-Plymouth, Wis.) made all the plays as Lakeland time and again turned back St. Norbert attacks.

The Green Knights tied the game up, though, with less than 4 1/2 minutes remaining. A free kick was awarded after a foul on the right sideline 12 yards from the end line, essentially resulting in a corner kick. Mackenzie Schneider's service into the box was headed by her sister Addie Schneider, who won a contested header against Tucker and redirected it into the net to tie the game.
 
The Muskies still had one last outstanding opportunity with just over a minute left. Sperber again stole a St. Norbert pass, passed ahead to Ingrid Steinbock (So.-Sheboygan, Wis.) and then received the ball back on the left sideline. She then split two defenders and got off a hard shot from the left wing that Hess had to dive left to knock away with one hand. The ball remained near the goal for another 15 seconds, with Steinbock briefly getting a foot on the ball in front of the goal and Solberg-Kieler running onto a shot into traffic that went wide, ending the threat.

Reimer finished making 13 saves, several of the spectacular variety especially in the first half. Hess stopped two shots for St. Norbert, which finished with a 22-6 lead in shot attempts.

The Muskies close out their season Saturday at home against Concordia University Wisconsin at 1 p.m.