KENOSHA, Wis. — Despite allowing a goal in the opening minute of play, the Michigan Tech Huskies soccer team gritted out a 1-1 draw at Wisconsin-Parkside in the GLIAC opener at the Road Wood Soccer Field on Friday.

“I’m excited to come away with a point after a hard-fought game. We shot ourselves in the foot by giving up the early goal, but we’re proud of the fight we had to come back,” said Huskies coach Melissa Kuhar. “Allie played a great ball in for Peyton (Wetzel) to finish and capitalized on a free kick, which we talked about in our game plan. Looking forward to another battle on Sunday.”

Both teams were searching for their first win of the season, with the Rangers (0-3-2, 0-0-1 GLIAC) striking first 18 seconds into the match, putting Michigan Tech (0-4-1, 0-0-1 GLIAC) on its heels early. Emily Mikkelson received a pass through midfield from Stephanie Salmeron and beat the Huskies’ defenders for a breakaway with just the goalkeeper to beat to earn the early 1-0 edge.

Wetzel, a freshman, broke through to tie the game in the 31st minute of the first half off a free kick just in front of the nearside corner from Allison Millina, who earned her first career assist, with Wetzel completing a header to find the back of the net and tie the game.

Kuhar made a goalkeeper change to start the second half, with Ludesha Reynolds making her first appearance in the net for the Huskies this season.

The Georgetown, Guyana, native made the most of the opportunity, making five saves to preserve the 1-1 draw.

The Rangers had three times the amount of shots as the Huskies (15-5) for the game, with a 7-2 shot on goal advantage. In an always physical affair, the two teams combined for 23 fouls and a yellow card apiece. The Huskies were called for four offsides while the Rangers had two.

Wetzel led the team with two shots and one on goal, while Mikkelson had a game-high four shots on goal.