Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall forward Brynlee Dieken attempts a shot around a Tri-City United defender during the first half of a Big South Conference girls soccer game on Tuesday in Marshall. The Tigers and Titans finished the game deadlocked in a 1-1 tie.

MARSHALL — Looking for its third consecutive win after a slow start to the season, the Marshall girls soccer team hosted the Tri-City United Titans for a Big South Conference matchup on Tuesday. Maddie Hoefer scored the game’s first goal in the second half to give Marshall a lead, but the Titans responded in the final six minutes to force the Tigers to settle for a 1-1 draw.

Marshall dominated the ball in the first half but couldn’t put it in the back of the net. The Tigers outshot the Titans 16-5 before the break, but tied TCU 3-3 in shots on goal.

“I feel like we stepped to a lot of balls and had better control,” Marshall forward Elsie Deutz said of the Tigers’ ability to control possession. “Some of them weren’t super good and in control, but we did way better than usual. We got a lot of passing strings, give-and-gos, and those really helped us get up the field.”

Maddie Hoefer broke the stalemate just after halftime. In the 48th minute, Hoefer pulled up from 30 yards out and drilled a shot into the left side of the goal, just inside the post. The unassisted goal put the Tigers in pole position for their third consecutive win.

The Tigers continued to carry play for the bulk of the second half, but the Titans were revitalized down the final stretch. TCU tied Marshall with nine shots each after the break, including a 5-4 advantage in shots on target.

TCU’s late second wind culminated with a 75th-minute equalizer. The Titans took a shot from just outside the right corner of the box, crossing low over the middle into the lower left corner of the goal.

Emma Messebrink finished just shy of her third consecutive clean sheet after recording her first varsity shutout against Wings United on Saturday. The sophomore goalkeeper recorded seven saves in the match, several of which required immense effort.

TCU threatened to net the equalizer in the 62nd minute, with a Titan sprinting into the box with only the keeper to beat. Yet, Messebrink charged the attacker and dove at the ball, blocking it with her feet and sending it out of the box to give the defense time to reset.

Recent junior varsity call-up Amelia MacMurchy was awarded a free kick in the 70th minute after being fouled just feet outside of the box. She got off a good kick that just sailed above the goalkeeper’s mitts, but it ricocheted off the crossbar and out as Marshall’s lead remained at one goal.

As a team, Marshall finished the day with 25 total shots, but just seven of them were on target. Marshall defender Katie Gordon liked the team’s shot selection, but said that following up those shots could be a difference maker for the team’s offensive production going forward.

“When we take shots, we all need to crash and be there so that if the goalie drops it, you can just tap it in right behind her,” Gordon said. “Sometimes we had some shots that were really close and the goalie was out of position, but we just couldn’t finish because we didn’t have anybody up at the top, but other than that I feel like we worked really well together… and we anticipated a lot of their passes so they couldn’t pass very much.”

The Marshall girls soccer team extends its point streak to three matches with the draw, now sitting at 3-7-1 after a 1-7-0 start, and will look to keep its momentum rolling when it goes on the road to take on Worthington on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Gordon attributed the team’s recent success to its work in film study, saying that they’ve been able to hone in on their weaknesses and build on them in order to get better results. In particular, she cited positioning as a key area in which she and her teammates have grown over the course of the season.

The Trojans are 0-8-0 on the season so far, with the Tigers defeating Worthington 6-0 when the team met in Marshall on Sept. 2.