A draw felt more like a win for The Classical Academy on April 4.

The Titans trailed for 70 minutes but scored in the final two to earn a 1-1 draw against Palmer Ridge.

“I’m proud of their resilience, proud of their grit and just really proud that they stuck with it and pulled through,” TCA coach Blake Galvin said.

The equalizer came after the Titans drew a penalty on a tackle. They got a free kick from the 40-yard line, which TCA’s Emilina Schmidt took.

Schmidt lobbed the ball to senior Alaina Bonacquista, who possessed it on the bounce. Palmer Ridge’s goalkeeper made a play on the ball, but Bonacquista was able to maneuver it past her.

“I made eye contact with (Schmidt),” Bonacquista said. “I was like, ‘This might be going out of bounds, I don’t know, but I’m going to run on it anyway.’ I was trying not to give up until the very end.”

Second-half heroics have become regular for TCA (3-0-2). The Titans scored a late goal in their season-opening 1-0 win against Evergreen, and they scored in the second half to draw with Prospect Ridge on March 11.

Though more stressful than Galvin would prefer, the coach sees it as a sign of togetherness.

“They are playing together as a family,” Galvin said. “They’re playing for each other, and there are some great things happening.

On the other end, a draw felt more like a loss for Palmer Ridge.

Freshman Teagan Porterfield scored in the eighth minute for her fourth goal in the last four minutes. Palmer Ridge coach Nic Odil said of Porterfield, “She’s a great player. She plays at a high level in club, so we knew that she’d make the transition to high school soccer well.”

After that, the Bears (2-1-3) did a good job of playing keep away — until the last two minutes.

Odil believes the tackle called against his player was clean, but he acknowledged the human nature of the call after the match.

“I feel like it’s a clean tackle; it’s unfortunate that it got called,” Odil said. “But it’s one of those moments where we have to refocus and be the one to get it out, even if it’s an unfair call.

“To give up one, it’s not the worst thing in the world. But it hurts, for sure.”

As hurtful as the Titans’ late goal was for Palmer Ridge, the Bears see it as something that can help them in the long run.

“It’s OK to feel bad about this for 15 minutes, but we have to take the lessons away,” Odil said. “The lesson that we have to take away is that we kept a really good, quality team out of the net for 78 minutes. That’s how it goes sometimes. That’s soccer.”