Box Score LITTLE ROCK – The Trojan soccer team began its Sun Belt Conference slate with a tough 2-1 loss at Texas State on Friday night, conceding an own goal in overtime after tying the game midway through the second half.
Little Rock (5-5-1, 0-1-0 Sun Belt Conference) got its goal in the 67th minute from
Shannon Shields and saw another excellent performance from goalkeeper
Sara Small and her five saves. Texas State (7-2-0, 1-0-0) won its sixth consecutive game and got its regulation goal from Lynsey Curry.
With six minutes remaining in the second half of overtime, the Bobcats won the game when a pass into the six-yard box went off a Trojan defender and directly into the net past Small. The defender was attempting to clear the ball wide of the net and mishit it.
The overtime contest was the Little Rock's second in a row, marking just the third time in school history that the Trojans played in two consecutive overtime games. This was the third overtime game for Little Rock this season, something the team had not done since 2010.
After a first-half goal by Curry in the 40th minute, the Trojans tied the contest in the 67th minute when
Jaclyn Purvine got the ball wide on the right side of the field. Dribbling toward the end line, Purvine centered the ball to an open Shields. The junior slotted the ball past Bobcats goalie Caitlynn Rinehart, giving her the fifth goal of her season and increasing her team lead in that category. Shields also reached 10 career points
Just 10 minutes later, Small made the play of the night for the Trojans. After a Shields throw-in in the Little Rock offensive half, Texas State quickly countered. A bouncing ball got past the last Trojan defender near midfield, and Lauren Prater found herself with a breakaway on Small. The junior goalkeeper made an excellent play, coming out of her net and diving at Prater's feet just as she took the shot. Small got a piece of the ball and deflected it wide, maintaining the 1-1 tie.
Fali Garuba had one chance for Little Rock in the waning minutes of the second half, but her header off a Shields throw-in went right into the hands of Rinehart. Small also had to make a save of her own in the last minute, stopping a Curry shot by diving to her left.
Entering overtime, Texas State held a 9-8 edge in shots and a 5-3 advantage in shots on goal.
The first half of overtime was all Bobcats, as they took three shots to zero for Little Rock. Small had to make one save in the extra period's first half. Neither team had a shot in the second part of overtime until the own goal in the 104th minute.
Little Rock again had a large portion of the roster play all 104 minutes. Small, Purvine,
Mikayla Uyokpeyi,
Caitlyn Eddy,
Bailey Fithian,
Quin Wilkes,
Nora Hellmers and
Hali Long all played the entire contest.
Logan Strange saw 90 minutes of action, Garuba played 81 and Shields played 62.
Kayla Turner,
Talia Graves and
Claire Palmer all saw time as well.
For comparison, only four Texas State players made it the length of the match.
At the end of the contest, Texas State led 13-8 in shots, 7-3 in shots on goal and 8-1 in corners. Small's five saves bettered Rinehart's two.
Little Rock has a long distance to travel in just two days before its next game. The team will head to Boone, N.C., to take on Appalachian State on Sunday at 11 a.m.
