DECATUR — In a cold and rainy conference matchup with North Central College, Millikin University ended its last home game of the season with a tie, 1-1.

The Big Blue, 6-9-1 in the regular season and now 1-3-1 in the conference, haven’t won their past four games this season, losing the last game to Carthage 3-1.

Within the first few minutes of the game, the ball was kicked high towards Nicole McKevitt, a junior midfielder, who misjudged the distance of the ball, seeing it go right past her. Scoring off of McKevitt’s miss, North Central started the game off 1-0.

With only a few attempts at the goal and a lot of back and forth on the field, the first half of the game went nowhere for the Big Blue, and thanks to two big saves at the goal line by Anna Benvenuto, a sophomore goalkeeper, North Central couldn’t get any closer to the goal during the first half.

During the second half of the game, the Big Blue tried multiple shots at the goal, but wasn’t able to score until Taylor Hartman, freshman forward, ran half way down the field with the ball and kicked it right into the side of the goal, tying the score 1-1.

Ending the second half tied, the game went into over time with two, ten-minute halves involving a yellow card for sophomore Courtney Olsen, and the North Central College coach, but still not goals.

The field was extremely aggressive, with multiple people being shoved down, elbowed, and knocked around without fouls being called.

What continued to be a back and forth field game, ended with Millikin University being only inches away from scoring a winning goal when the time on the clock ran out, and the game ended at a 1-1 tie.

“We were kicking the ball to far ahead, we had some people in different spots… If I wouldn’t have missed the ball in the first half, I could have helped prevent that goal,” said McKevitt about the first half of the game.

After the game, head coach Kate McArthur blamed the outcome of the game on herself. “…I made some tactical decisions at the beginning of the game, tried to take some risks, score early, and it backfired…” said McArthur.

She also discussed the injuries on the team and how those have dramatically affected the season. “…Three ACL’s, a dislocated knee, a broken rib, a herniated disc in the back, a sprained ankle, [and] two concussions to end a season. Those are just the big ones,” said McArthur.

“…We’re just going to continue working on the little things… you know, hoping people improve their personal game,” said McArthur.

With injuries across the board, and a season coming to a close end, the Big Blue will shift their focus to the off season and to better improve their chances for the next season.

Millikin will play at Augustana College this Saturday for their last game of the season.