Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. – No. 4 Belmont women's soccer fought fearlessly through a double overtime stalemate against No. 5 Southeast Missouri in the OVC Quarterfinals match Sunday afternoon at E.S. Rose Park. The match would ultimately be decided in a shootout where the Bruins fell short, 5-4, to the Redhawks.
Belmont (10-6-2) controlled the tempo of the match for most of the 110 minutes that the two squads battled on the pitch, outshooting SEMO (8-7-4), 20-6, while denying its opponent to land a single shot on frame until the final seconds of double overtime. The Bruins dominated offensively from start to finish, but struggled to get past SEMO's keeper Kindra Lierz.
Sophomore Niki Clements (Perkasie, Pa.) went to work early on a fierce run down the field where she had to squeeze past a pair of Redhawk defenders before launching a shot 10 yards out in the 17th minute that would soar right. The forward continued to cause trouble for the SEMO backline has she fired four shots throughout the match.
While the Bruins bombarded the Redhawk goal for much of the game, it was a different story on the other end as sophomore keeper Lily Herman (Springboro, Ohio) and the BU defense were nearly flawless at protecting their territory. Herman was a large reason that the squad held SEMO to just one shot on goal all game as she made critical stops on multiple occasions to ensure that the Redhawks never got a clear look on frame. In fact, SEMO didn't tally a shot until the 40th minute – their sole attempt of the entire first half.
With the match held scoreless after the first stanza, Belmont took a bit to get back in the groove as freshman Sydney Cason (Hnerdersonville, Tenn.) was the sole Bruin to register a shot in the opening 25 minutes of the half. Despite a slow start in the attacking third, BU continued to hold off the Redhawks offense as they earned five consecutive corner kicks. During that span the Bruins only allowed SEMO one chance to threaten in which the ball flew over the crossbar and left the game even at zero apiece.
From then on the Bruins heated up and fired off eight shots, including a great look from freshman Julie Garst (Franklin, Tenn.) who worked through some contact and sent a laser that forced Lierz to make her sixth save of the match. Both squads remained scoreless after regulation to trigger Belmont's second overtime match in its last two games of the season.
In both overtime periods the Bruins led the shot count, 5-1, but failed to notch the game-winning goal on any of the attempts to ensure that the contest would be decided in a shootout.
Each team netted their first four penalty kicks before Belmont would falter with a shot over the frame, moving SEMO onto the semifinals.
Senior Belicia Mendiola (McKinney, Texas) led BU in shots with five, landing three on frame.
The Bruins concluded the season with one of its best parks in program history.
