University of Louisville
BUTLER
Women's Soccer Opens With Scoreless Deadlock
August 31, 2003 | Women's Soccer
Aug. 31, 2003
LOUISVILLE, KY - The University of Louisville women's soccer team dominated for the better part of 110 minutes, but could not break through, ending its season opener with Butler in a scoreless tie on Sunday.
"The only thing that was missing from this performance was the 'W'," said Head Coach Karen Ferguson.
"We played very well on defense collectively, and had some outstanding performances from a number of players including freshmen Jamie Craft and Amy Seng," continued Ferguson.
As the teams battled to a scoreless first half, the Cards(0-0-1) outshot the Bulldogs 6-1. Louisville had three great scoring opportunities in the first half, twice on corners and once on a breakaway by Craft in the 26th minute that was stopped by Bulldog keeper Katie Sanders.
The game evened up a little in the second half, with the Cards holding a 6-5 edge in shots. Both teams managed a shot in the first overtime, and the Cards exploded for five unanswered shots in the second extra stanza.
The best scoring opportunity of the overtime was Craft again as she moved in on the left side and beat keeper Megan Cappa low and to the right only to see her shot draw iron. Freshman Lindsay Scheer gathered the rebound and sent her shot just high.
"We had great communication out there today, but it was a little depressing to come up empty on our scoring chances," remarked Craft.
The freshman from Owings, Maryland had three shots on goal, as did junior Mandy Rost and sophomore Hollie Minogue, who had two great scoring opportunities late .
Sophomore Ashley Garcia, freshman Liz Kinny, Seng and Scheer each contributed two shots apiece, as the Cards outshot the Bulldogs(1-0-1) 18-7 on the afternoon. Sophomore Sarah Core had one shot in the match.
Junior goalkeeper Meredith Miller had three saves to pick up her fourth career shutout. Seng and junior Lisa Martin anchored a stingy defense in front of Miller.
"The upperclassmen have done a great job helping the newcomers, and we played together well today," said Seng.
The game marked the first scoreless tie since the Cards and Cincinnati Bearcats on September 17, 1996. Ferguson is 2-1-1 in season openers at Louisville, and the last time U of L opened with a tie was 1994.
The Cards hit the road next, where they will face Xavier at the Town and Country Sports Complex at 8:00 p.m. on Friday.
