Box Score |
YouTube: Adrian Blewitt |
YouTube: Mikayla Uyokpeyi |
YouTube: Sara SmallAUSTIN, Texas – For the second consecutive game against a major-conference foe, the Trojan soccer team took their opponent to overtime. This time, they completed the tie.
Little Rock played staunch defense all afternoon and
Sara Small had seven saves in net, leading the Trojans to a 0-0 tie with Texas at Mike A. Myers Stadium on Sunday.
The Trojans (5-4-1) stymied the Longhorns (3-2-2) throughout the 110 minutes of action, knocking away crosses and shots often times before they got through to Small. Small's shutout was her second complete clean sheet of the year. The Little Rock attack also had a few moments to shine, picking up four shots on goal.
In the two overtime periods, Small had to make three saves and the Trojans forced Texas goalie Abby Smith to make one as well. At the end of the contest, the Longhorns led 29-6 in shots and 10-3 on corners. But neither team was able to take a lead in the one scoreboard category that mattered.
The tie was Little Rock's first since October 2014 at Georgia State. This is now the first season since 2011 that the Trojans have played two overtime games a year. The Trojans fell 1-0 in the first overtime at Ole Miss two weeks ago despite 13 saves from Small against a Southeastern conference team.
As was the case when the Trojans last played a major-conference opponent on Sept. 6, the Little Rock defense and Small were the stars of the game. The back line of
Nora Hellmers,
Hali Long and
Bailey Fithian as well as
Mikayla Uyokpeyi in the defensive midfield kept the Longhorns without a shot until the 14th minute, and Texas' first shot on goal was not until the 17th minute.
That shot on goal produced Small's best save of the afternoon. Texas had the ball on the left wing and crossed it into the box. Just six yards from goal, Texas' Mikayla Flores got a boot on the ball. Small dove to her left and got her left hand on the ball, knocking it out of bounds to save the goal.
Small would finish the half with three more saves, and the Trojan defense continued to frustrate the Longhorns. Little Rock did not use a substitute in the first 45 minutes.
Little Rock's best opportunity in the first half may have come in strange fashion.
Quin Wilkes, playing up as the lone striker for the Trojans, got a ball flicked onto her by a teammate down the left side of the offensive zone. Smith came way out of her net to make a play on the ball, and Wilkes got to it first. The sophomore tried to loop the ball over Smith toward a vacated net, but Smith deflected it out of bounds. That was one of the Trojans' two shots during the half to Texas' 13.
The second half saw similar play with the Trojans fending off Longhorn attacks for much of it. But
Caitlyn Eddy and
Claire Palmer took great shots in a two-minute span early in the half that Smith had to save. Eddy's was a rocket from outside the penalty area that Smith parried to her left and earned Little Rock a corner kick.
With under 10 minutes remaining, the Trojans nearly had a great opportunity when
Shannon Shields earned a throw-in. She lofted the ball deep, and
Kayla Turner was just inches from getting to a loose ball before Smith jumped on top of it.
Logan Strange saw significant action on Sunday for the first time all season, starting the game and playing 85 minutes in regulation.
Fali Garuba and
Jaclyn Purvine saw more than 80 minutes as well, enduring the 90-plus degree Austin heat. Eddy, Palmer, Fithian, Uyokpeyi, Hellmers, Long and Small played all 110 minutes.
Liz Berkeley, Turner,
Talia Graves and Shields all played just under half an hour.
With non-conference play behind them, the Trojans will now look ahead to the start of Sun Belt Conference action next week. Texas State is first on the slate, and the Trojans will face the Bobcats on Friday at 7 p.m. in San Marcos.
