ABILENE, Texas – Despite facing 28 shots and nine corner kicks, the Southeastern Louisiana women's soccer team held Abilene Christian scoreless in a 0-0 tie Sunday afternoon at Elmer Gray Stadium extending their unbeaten streak to five matches (2-0-3).
 
The Lady Lions (3-2-3 Southland) got seven saves from senior goalkeeper Nadine Maher giving her 23 for the season. SLU's Makenzie Maher led the way offensively with three shots and two on goal while Halli Roe had two shots, both on goal.
 
The Wildcats (8-5-1, 4-3-0 Southland) were led by Natalie Jones with seven shots and three on goal while Christina Arteaga had six shots, one on goal. ACU goalkeeper Erin Smith finished the match with five saves.
 
In the first half, the Lady Lions were on the defense much of the half as they faced 13 shots but allowed just three on goal.
 
The SLU backline, led by Nadine Maher, also got several key plays from Emma Jones, Haylii Roe and Darby Gillette to help prevent the Wildcats from capitalizing on the attack in the first half.
 
Gillette, a junior, stopped the first scoring threat in the 18^th minute as she cut off the ACU attack 10 feet from the SLU net clearing the ball out of bounds.
 
In the 29th^th minute, Jones made a great play right in front of the SLU net to stop the ACU scoring opportunity. The Dripping Springs, Texas native cleared the ball from a wide open net to turn away the Wildcats.
 
Later in the half, Haylii Roe was there to prevent the Wildcats from taking the lead.  The freshman defender deflected a shot from point blank range keeping the match scoreless at the half.
 
The pressure continued for the Lady Lions' defense as they faced 11 more shots in the second half.
 
The Wildcats best chance of the match came in the 88^th minute as ACU's Megan Paul got open 10 yards in front of the net. But thanks to Nadine Maher's quick reflexes, she snagged the shot saving the match helping send SLU to their sixth overtime in eight matches (2-1-3).
 
"It was a great team effort from everyone," said Nadine Maher. "We already knew they were going to take a lot of shots. But our defenders did a great job of getting deflections. We all stayed focused back there for the whole match."
 
In the first overtime, SLU's offense took control as the Lady Lions got three shots on goal from inside 15 yards. Makenzie Maher outran the defense twice in the 94^th minute getting two shots that nearly won the match while Hailie Yoder attempted one with the left foot from the corner of the box. But Smith was able to make the save on all three shots taking the match to a second overtime and eventually a tie.
 
The Lady Lions finished with eight shots, five on goal and five corner kicks. ACU had 28 shots, seven on goal and nine corners.
 
"Abilene (Christian) came out really strong in the first half," said SLU head coach Chris McBride. "But I thought we did a good job of limiting their scoring opportunities. And in the second half they had the wind to their backs so we knew we were going to have to defend the crosses. Once we got to overtime we did a much better job of opening up the field and creating opportunities. But the main thing is for us to make this road trip and come home undefeated. So this was a good weekend."
 
The entire backline drew the praises of McBride including Jones, Haylli Roe, Gillette, Jessica Hyde, Megan Gordon, Halli Roe, Dalton Fish and Nadine Maher.
 
"Overall they were spectacular," said McBride. "We blocked a lot of shots, defended their crosses and limited their opportunities. Each and every defender did exactly what we needed them to today."
 
Next up, the Lady Lions will return home to face Houston Baptist (2-9-1, 2-6-0 Southland) Thursday night at 7 p.m. in Strawberry Stadium.   
 
SCORE ONE MORE CLUB/S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the women's soccer program are encouraged to join the Score One More Club.  Lion alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners. All membership fees and donations to Score One More Club are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern soccer program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
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TICKETS
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