LEXINGTON (Interstat) — Sporting Jax W and Lexington W played to a 3-3 draw Friday, a match that packed five goals into the first half and then tightened after the break. Lexington W built an early two-goal lead before Sporting Jax W responded, and the visitors’ rally continued after halftime as both sides settled for a share of the points. The result kept Sporting Jax W unbeaten in the competition and left Lexington W with one loss through four matches.

Lexington W opened the scoring in the 11th minute when Sarah Griffith found the net. Catherine Barry doubled the home side’s advantage in the 16th minute, giving Lexington W a 2-0 cushion with less than a quarter-hour gone. Sporting Jax W answered quickly through Ashlyn Puerta in the 18th minute, cutting the deficit in half and changing the rhythm of the match. The early exchange forced Lexington W to defend with more care and pushed Sporting Jax W forward in search of another goal before halftime.

The home side restored a two-goal margin in the 45th minute when Addie McCain scored. Sporting Jax W responded once more in the first minute of first-half stoppage time, as Paige Kenton scored to send the teams into the break with Lexington W ahead by one. The exchange made Kenton a central figure in the visitors’ response and set up the second-half tension. Lexington W had controlled the opening stages, but Sporting Jax W’s finishing kept the visitors within reach.

After halftime, the match became more fragmented. Lexington W’s Murray K. received a yellow card in the 63rd minute. Sporting Jax W’s Fontenot G. was booked in the 65th minute, and Descary M. followed with a yellow card in the 67th minute. The cards came amid a burst of substitutions for Sporting Jax W, with Hennessey A. and DeSmit B. entering in the 63rd minute. Jones S. and Illig M. came on in the 74th minute.

Lexington W made its own changes later. Bourgeois A. entered in the 77th minute, Johnson H. came on in the 83rd minute, and Barry C. was replaced in the 84th minute. Falla G. and Griffith S. entered in the first minute of second-half stoppage time. The substitutions interrupted the flow of a match that had started at a furious pace but produced tighter, more cautious play as the second half wore on. Sporting Jax W’s equalizer after the break completed the scoring and left the teams level at the final whistle.

Sporting Jax W’s Paige Kenton had a goal and an assist. Lexington W’s Catherine Barry had a goal and an assist in 84 minutes. Ashlyn Puerta scored for Sporting Jax W. Addie McCain and Sarah Griffith each scored for Lexington W. Alyssa Bourgeois had an assist in 77 minutes for Lexington W, and Baylee Desmit had an assist in 63 minutes for Sporting Jax W.

Sporting Jax W is now 1-0-2 in the competition and across all competitions. Lexington W is 1-1-2 in the competition and across all competitions. Sporting Jax W had entered the match after a home win against Fort Lauderdale W and a draw at Carolina Ascent W. Lexington W had beaten Tampa Bay Sun W at home, lost at Fort Lauderdale W and drawn at Tampa Bay Sun W. The draw added another tight result to a season that has already included a high-scoring win for Sporting Jax W and a one-goal home victory for Lexington W.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Lexington W 2, Sporting Jax W 1, and its ELO system had projected Lexington W with a 69 percent probability to win. The over/under line was 2.5.