The University of Cincinnati women's soccer team battled to a 0-0 draw on Thursday night against Lipscomb. Senior goalkeeper Sam Pavlika recorded her second consecutive clean sheet for the Bearcats.
After a tame offensive performance in the first half, the Bearcats (1-1-1) exploded in the second half. UC tallied 10 shots and six corners to really put the Bisons on their heels. A big catalyst in UC's offensive improvement was the play of senior Danielle Rotheram, who kept putting pressure on Lipscomb's backline.
The offensive power continued into the two overtimes as Cincinnati outshot Lipscomb, 9-4, in extra time, including five shots on frame. Despite having momentum for the majority of the match, UC was unable to find the back of the net even with having a 23-12 shot advantage.
Pavlika finished the match with seven saves and earned her second consecutive shutout of the season.
// TOP SCORING CHANCES
11' -- The Bearcats received an indirect free kick inside the 18 after being fouled in the box. On the kick, Bailey Wilson tapped the ball to Kelly Latimer, who struck the ball under the LU wall towards the far post. The Bisons' keeper dove to stop the shot, but it was out of her reach. To Lipscomb's luck, one of their defenders was standing on the goal line and booted the ball away.
31' -- Latimer bent in a corner towards the far post where Vanessa Gilles jumped above all defenders to head the ball inches above the crossbar.
64' -- Senior Danielle Rotheram dribbled around three defenders before rocketing a ball form the 18 towards the far post. LU's keeper sprawled out to deflect the shot and negate UC's scoring chance.
99' -- Freshman Tiffany Huber collected a blocked UC shot inside the box and pushed the ball towards an open net. At the last second, Lipscomb had a defender strike the ball to midfield.
104' -- Huber rebounded Rotheram's blocked shot and chipped a ball to the back post. The pass cleared all the Bisons to find senior Laura Rose inside the six for a header, but Lipscomb's netminder again made a diving save to deny UC.
// GAME NOTES
- For the third consecutive match this season, the decision of the Bearcats' match was decided by one or fewer goals.
- Three Cincinnati players played all 110 minutes: goalkeeper Sam Pavlika, defender Kayla Utley and defender Vanessa Gilles.
- Sam Pavlika recorded her second consecutive shutout for the Bearcats.
// NEXT MATCH
Cincinnati closes out their four-game homestand on Sunday afternoon against Providence. The match is slated to kickoff at 1 p.m. and admission is complimentary for all.