PASADENA, Calif. – The Beavers kicked off the 2023 regular season with poise, confidence, and a hard-fought draw with Linfield University Friday morning at Caltech's North Field.

A highly defensive affair throughout, stingy defense by the home side kept the visiting Wildcats from many opportunities in their final third. Linfield attempted five shots in the first half with only one shot on goal, which sophomore goalkeeper Sophia Steven collected for a save. She completed the opening frame with a clean sheet as the teams remained deadlocked at half time.

Linfield struck first in the second half after an offensive flurry in the 51st minute, and then stifled the Caltech offense with a big save a minute later on a corner kick opportunity. But the Beavers kept their heads up and refused to yield, finally leading to a brilliant breakout and an equalizing goal as senior Kathryn Thompson fed junior forward Jennifer Solgaard for her first goal of the season after she set a program record for single-season goals with seven.

Caltech dug in their heels and shut down Linfield's attempts until the final whistle, with junior goalkeeper Elizabeth Field making two of her three saves in the match's last four minutes to earn the draw.

"It was nice to see Jenny create that space, and Kate played a great ball through to Jenny," Head Coach Emmy Meyring said of Caltech's goal in the 79th minute of her Caltech head coaching debut. "Overall it was a great team effort and we look forward to improving in the coming weeks."

Meyring and the Beavers will wrap up this year's non-conference schedule with two home matches beginning on Friday, Sep. 8 at 4:30 p.m. against Texas Lutheran University, followed by a Sunday morning match (11 a.m.) against Lewis & Clark College. Both matches will take place at Caltech's North Field and will be streamed live on the SCIAC Network.