Three penalties, two goals and an extra-time equaliser greeted fans at Deakin Stadium on Sunday.
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Canberra Croatia FC and Canberra Olympic FC both walked away with a point from the 1-1 draw.
Up until the 90th minute it seemed the visitors were set to take three points from the bout, but an unfortunate foul in the box changed their fate.
Croatia suffered a blow minutes before half-time, with goalkeeper Natasja Vasta colliding with players in the box. Before she was stretchered off and headed to hospital.
Coach Zoran Glavinic said they were awaiting scans to determine the exact injury but he was proud of defender Alice Churchill for stepping into goals.
"We've got COVID with the girls in reserves and seventeens. So we did not have a reserve goalkeeper, and we just hoped Nat was going to last all game but these things happen," he said.
"The resilience of the team was really great. They believed in themselves and just kept going to the last minute so it was really pleasing that we ended up with a point."
Olympic scored first off a penalty, breaking the deadlock in the 50th minute.
Ash Sykes fed a through ball into Michaela Day, and the midfielder found herself one-on-one with Churchill. The defender-turned-goalkeeper stopped Day in her tracks but the referee signalled a penalty for Olympic.
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Alexandra Cook stepped up and sent it top right to make it 1-0.
Cook should have made it 2-0 when the referee pointed to the spot again 30 minutes later for another Churchill and Day one-on-one battle.
She hit a similar strike to her first penalty but the difference, this time, was Churchill saved it to keep the deficit to one goal.
In the 89th minute everything changed.
Deakin's Jennifer Li Bisset went down in the box as two Olympic defenders fought for possession. It led to the game's third penalty, and the midfielder slotted home the equaliser in the 91st minute.
Olympic coach Nicole Begg said her side would have loved to take three-points away from the fixture but they were satisfied with a point.
"It was a pretty even game the whole time, it was really well fought from both sides," she said.
"So it would have been really good to get the three points but probably sharing the points was fair."
Begg's side welcomed several new faces to the mix this season, and remain undefeated heading into round five.
The Olympic coach said she was very pleased with their growing chemistry as a team, especially since Sunday's fixture and their tight battle against Belconnen United.
"It's been really good to see how the girls are coming together because there's a lot of new faces around the team," she said.
"It was going to be a challenge getting us to play well together in these first few rounds, and to find those connections and make it work. So it has been impressive to see."
The draw pushes Croatia and Olympic back into second and third respectfully, with 10 points to their name.
West Canberra Wanderers have moved into first place after making it four from four this season against Tuggeranong United. Their defence and goalkeeper held onto the side's perfect defensive record with a 3-0 win on Sunday.
AT A GLANCE
NPL women's round four results:
- West Canberra Wanderers df Tuggeranong United 3-0
- Gungahlin United df Wagga City Wanderers 5-2
- Canberra Olympic dw Canberra Croatia 1-1
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