Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Samford
Racers Fall In OVC Semifinals To Samford On Penalty Kicks
11/4/2005 6:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Officially, the final score remains at 0-0, with the notation that Samford won the game in the shootout.
In the shootout, each team takes turns shooting penalty kicks, beginning with five players from each team. If the result is still tied after that, one player at a time would take penalty kicks with each team taking a turn until one team wins.
In today's shootout, Murray State (8-11-2) lined up senior Lisa Pfeiffer, freshman Krista Llewellyn, sophomore Jen Nowak, freshman Rebekah Clay and sophomore Laura Oppegard, while Samford went with Rebecca Bohler, Sara Geiger, Shay Helmbock, Devon Paris and Marian Wager. The Racers brought in junior goalkeeper Annie Fortier for the shootout after sophomore goalie Heather Jones played through 110 minutes in the scoreless tie. Samford put Cayley Winters in the net, who had worked the entire game for the Bulldogs (14-3-3).
Samford took the first kick, and Bohler found the net, but Pfeiffer also scored on her penalty kick to tie the shootout at 1-1.
Geiger and Llewellyn also exchanged goals before Helmbeck stepped up and put hers in to give Samford a 3-2 lead in the shootout. Nowak took her turn and hit the left post to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead.
Paris put her goal in to keep the pressure on MSU, but Clay also scored to keep the Samford lead at one, 4-3.
Wager's shot was stopped by Fortier, allowing Murray State a chance to tie the shootout, but Oppegard's shot was also deflected in goal by Winters to preserve the win for Samford.
"It was pretty well dead-even," said MSU head coach Mike Minielli. "We had some opportunities, especially in the first half, and then, they had a flurry in the second half, and neither team could get much going offensively.
"Our whole defense was good; everybody played well defensively. We pressured the ball really well, and our keeper didn't get attacked severely; Samford only had four shots on-goal."
Samford took a lion's share of shots in regulation, taking 12 to MSU's four in the first 90 minutes of play, and making three shots in the second overtime. Murray State did not get a shot off in the overtime periods.
Jones made four saves in the game, all during regulation, while Winters turned away one Racer shot, that one coming in the first period by Jenna Milward.
Samford made six corner kicks in the game to Murray State's five, and the Bulldogs made 21 fouls to the Racers' 12.
Murray State closed out the season with a 7-2-1 mark over the 10 games before today's loss, and Minielli said the future is bright for Racer soccer.
"Our freshmen got more and more comfortable and confident as the year went on," he said. "We are just losing two starters and three seniors from this team, so we're already excited about next year. We still only have a handful of seniors on next year's team; our roster will be a junior- and sophomore-dominated roster, so things are looking pretty good for us over the next few years."
