CARTERVILLE — The Murphysboro Red Devils’ defense is human after all. The Red Devils gave up their first goal of the season, but managed a 1-1 tie at Carterville/Herrin to move a step closer to the Southern Illinois River to River championship.

The Lady Lions entered the day just a half game back of the Red Devils, and the first place showdown lived up to the billing. Carterville/Herrin grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first half on Rylee Davis’ goal. Davis tracked down a pass from Audri Strothmann, then found the back of the net for the first goal scored against Murphysboro in 11 matches this season.

The Red Devils generated several second half scoring chances, but Sydney Stuck knocked away shots from Bela Cerrato and Maci Uffelman to keep it 1-0.

With less than 10 minutes to play, Uffelman found Megan McNitt, who punched home a loose ball in front for the equalizer, and that’s the way it ended.

Carterville/Herrin needed a win to split the season series with Murphysboro. By virtue of a win over the Lady Lions earlier in the season and this tie, the Red Devils own the tiebreaker between the two teams. Murphysboro still has two matches remaining–at Anna-Jonesboro before closing at home against Massac County, while Carterville has just one, at Massac County. The Lady Lions are still mathematically alive for the title, but would need to win their final match and have the Red Devils lose both of theirs.