Oct. 16, 2004
Truman Soccer Ties Southwest Baptist In A Game Between A Pair Of Top 25 Teams
The Bulldog women's soccer team tied Southwest Baptist by a 1-1 score on Saturday in a battle between two teams ranked in the top 25 in the nation.
Truman, ranked third, saw its nine-game winning streak snapped but they have still not lost on the season as it has a 11-0-2 overall record. Southwest Baptist, ranked 22nd, is now 9-1-2 on the season.
The Lady Bearcats are giving Truman its biggest challenge for the MIAA title in the six years women's soccer has been a conference sport. Truman currently has more points, but has also played two more conference games than Southwest Baptist. The Bulldogs are 6-0-2 in conference while the Lady Bearcats are 5-0-1. The two teams play again in early November in Kirksville. Emporia State is also in the hunt, with a 6-1-0 record on the year.
In Saturday's game, Southwest Baptist kept pressure on Truman throughout the game, something few teams have done against the Bulldogs this year. The Lady Bearcats outshot Truman by a 14-9 margin, including a 7-5 edge on shots on goals.
The two teams played a scoreless first-half. Truman's goalie Lauren Davis was forced to make five saves in the period, compared to just two by the Lady Bearcats' goalie Sara Eppler. Southwest Baptist had four corner kicks in the half but couldn't convert any of them.
Truman, which had shutout five straight opponents coming into the game, appeared to take control of the contest when Sara Murray scored in the 66th minute. It was the 11th goal and the 29th point on the season for Murray. Molly Benson got credit with her seventh assists of the season on the goal.
Southwest Baptist answered though in the 74th minute when Ashley Munnelly scored her eighth goal of the season off an assist from Hayley Moorwood.
Neither team could score the game-winner during the rest of regulation and the 30 minutes of overtime. There were no shots on goal by either teams in overtime with Southwest Baptist taking only two shots in the first overtime and Truman taking two shots in the second extra period.
Truman will get a change to get back in the win column very quickly as the team hosts Rockhurst tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m.