CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati women's soccer team played visiting ECU to a scoreless draw Thursday night at Gettler Stadium as the 2019 regular season came to a close. With the tie, the Bearcats finished the regular season at 7-8-3 overall and 5-3-1 in the American Athletic Conference to finish fourth on 16 points while the Pirates saw their season come to a close with a 5-10-3 overall record and a 2-5-2 mark in the league, giving them eight points and a tie for seventh on the conference table. By finishing fourth overall, the Bearcats have qualified for the 2019 AAC Tournament and, as the #4 seed, will play host to #5 seed SMU Sunday at 1 p.m. at Gettler Stadium. Admission for the first-round match is free.
// NOTING THE MATCH
• Cincinnati ended the regular season with a 7-8-3 record and went 5-3-1 in the AAC to finish fourth overall while ECU closed the year at 5-10-3 overall and 2-5-2 in the league to finish in a tie for seventh
• The draw keeps UC ahead in the all-time series, 7-2-2, and 4-1-1 when the series is played in Cincinnati
• The Bearcats finished fourth in the AAC standings with 16 points, the second-highest total since joining the league in 2013, while the five wins ties for the most in a single season in that span as well
• UC will host a home conference playoff match for the first time in the AAC and just the second time overall after playing host to Evansville in the first round of the Conference USA Tournament exactly 24 years to the day from Sunday (November 3, 1995)
• Cincinnati is now 39-12-15 under Stafford in all home matches and is outscoring foes, 99-48 (+51), in those matches
• The Bearcats are undefeated in their last 14 home overtime matches, holding a 2-0-12 record following tonight's draw
• UC played in its 25th all-time scoreless draw with three coming this year, the most in a single season in program history
• Madison Less recorded one save on the night to post her eight shutout of the year and the 16th of her career, both of which tie her for fifth on the all-time ledgers
• Sophie Gorman (5) and Karli Royer (4) lead the team in shots with both nearly scoring during the contest
• Ally Sidloski, a redshirt freshman, made her collegiate debut tonight and played 40 minutes in the midfield
// SCORING SUMMARY
There was no scoring in the match.
// LESS MOVING UP
Less continues to have solid showings for the Bearcats as she and the defense recorded the eighth shutout of the season. With that clean sheet, Less has moved into a tie with Christy Hoffman (1997) for the fifth-most shutouts in a single season. Less also has 16 career shutouts, which ties her for fifth with Andrea Kaminski (2006-09).
// CLOSE CALLS
Four shots on the night for the Bearcats were dangerous, but were unable to find the net. In the opening half, Sydney Goins saw a ball float in the air towards her as she out-jumped a defender and put her head to the ball, seeing it pushed over the crossbar by the ECU keeper. In overtime, a trio of attempts nearly gave UC the win. In the first OT, Royer controlled the ball and moved to the top of the box where she shot toward the opposite upper 90, only to see her shot just miss. In the second OT, Royer was back at it again, this time firing from distance only to see her shot go high and click off the crossbar and out. Finally, with under two minutes to play in the match, UC was awarded a free-kick just outside the top of the area where Gorman fired a shot that the wall deflected. The ball came down to Vanessa DiNardo, who tried to volley a shot out of the air, but it missed high.
// BLANKED
Tonight marked the fourth overtime match UC has played in 2019 and third at home, all three of which ended in scoreless draws. In the history of the program, the Bearcats have played 755 matches with just 25 ending scoreless. Additionally, the three scoreless draws this year is a program record as the team had previously recorded two in a season seven times.
// WORKING OVERTIME
With the draw, UC is now 2-0-12 in its last 14 overtime contests at home, all of which have come under head coach Neil Stafford since the start of the 2014 season. The last time the Bearcats lost a home overtime match was October 25, 2013, when Louisville took a 5-4 decision. Additionally, the Bearcats are now undefeated in their last 13 overtime matches overall, posting a 2-0-11 record in that span. The last time UC fell in overtime was a 2-1 decision on the road at Purdue on August 28, 2016.
// FINAL STANDINGS
Memphis defeated Tulsa, 3-0, on the road Thursday night to claim the conference's regular-season crown and will play host to the semifinals and final later next week as the #1 seed. Also earning a bye into the tournament as the #2 seed is USF, who fell on the road to UCF, 1-0. With the win by the Knights and the UC draw, UCF took the #3 seed with 17 points while UC is the #4 seed with 16 points. SMU defeated Houston, 3-2, on the road. Coupled with Temple and UConn playing to a 1-1 draw in Connecticut, both Texas schools earned berths into the tournament with the Mustangs earning the #5 seed and a trip to Cincinnati Sunday while Houston is the #6 seed and will play at UCF Sunday.
// NEXT MATCH
The AAC Tournament gets underway Sunday afternoon as the Bearcats will welcome the SMU Mustangs to Gettler Stadium for a 1 p.m. contest. The winner of the match will advance to Memphis Thursday, November 7, to face the top-seeded and host Memphis Tigers.
Women’s Soccer Plays ECU to Scoreless Draw
The University of Cincinnati women's soccer team played visiting ECU to a scoreless draw Thursday night at Gettler Stadium as the 2019 regular season came to a close.
