LAFAYETTE — Mackenzie Lee recorded two of her five saves in the second overtime and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns women’s soccer team battled to a scoreless draw against South Alabama in a regionally-televised match on Sunday at the Ragin’ Cajuns Soccer/Track Complex.
Skyla Sykes and Telly Vunipola each placed a pair of shots on goal for Louisiana (4-3-2, 0-0-1 SBC), which picked up a point in its Sun Belt Conference opener while facing South Alabama (6-2-2, 1-0-1 SBC) for the 21st time in school history – the most against any opponent.
Louisiana managed a pair of shots on the first half against USA goalkeeper Justin Stanford before being outshot, 5-1, in the second half. The Ragin’ Cajuns knocked away six corner kick attempts by the Jaguars in the final nine minutes of regulation while Lee stopped a shot by USA’s Chloe McGlade in the final half minute to send the match to overtime.
Sykes nearly put the match away in the first overtime for Louisiana after she stepped in front of a Jaguar pass and had an open look at the net, but was stopped by Stanford, who finished with four saves.
Vunipola notched both of her shot attempts on goal in the final period, including a blast towards the upper left corner of the goal in the 110th minute that was knocked away by Stanford for an eventual corner kick for Louisiana.
Gwen Mummert had an opportunity to put the match away for Louisiana on the ensuing corner kick, but her header missed to the left of the goal.
The match was Louisiana’s first scoreless draw since Oct. 1, 2017 at Georgia State, and the first scoreless draw at home since facing Troy in the 2013 regular-season finale.
McGlade took a match-high three shots for South Alabama, including a pair on goal attempts. Ana Helmert, who capped the Jaguars’ 1-0 win at Texas State with a goal in double overtime on Thursday, added a pair of shots for South Alabama, which held an 11-8 advantage in shots.
Louisiana will travel north for a pair of Sun Belt Conference matches beginning on Thursday (Sept. 27) when it faces Arkansas State in a 3 p.m. contest. The Ragin’ Cajuns will cap off the weekend when they face Little Rock on Sept. 29 at 1 p.m.
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