Box Score
INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI women's soccer senior class went out with a bang on Saturday night as they pulled off the program's first-ever win over Oral Roberts, 3-2. After the Jags squandered a two-goal lead in a matter of 38 seconds early in the second half, junior Samantha Sliney (Goshen, Ind./Northridge) knocked home the game-winner in the game's 74th minute.
The loss eliminated Oral Roberts from the upcoming Mid-Continent Conference Tournament.
"They had a chance to help us last year," IUPUI head coach Chris Johnson said, referring to last season's Mid-Con finish. "This year, we kind of repaid the favor."
Sliney scored the game-winner when junior Mia Moody (Indianapolis, Ind./Roncalli) rolled a pass across the ORU box on a counter attack. Making her run to the far post, Sliney drilled a shot past ORU goalkeeper Shelbi Morrison for her first score of the season.
IUPUI had built a 2-0 lead thanks to a strong defensive first half and an opportunistic offense.
Junior Stacy Downing (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) scored her sixth goal of the season less than nine minutes in, making it 1-0. Senior Molly Haag (Brownsburg, Ind./Brebeuf) sent a long pass up the right side that Downing finished by rolling a header past Morrison, who had come off her back line.
Meanwhile, the IUPUI defense was able to stave off Oral Roberts, limiting the Golden Eagles to just seven first half shots. IUPUI goalkeeper Jessie Mann (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) needed just one save in the first 45 minutes.
Moody made it 2-0 early in the second half when the ORU back line miscleared a ball. Moody picked off a pass, dribbled between a pair of defenders and lined a shot over Morrison's head for her third score of the season.
The lead was short-lived though thanks to a pair of bullets from ORU's Heather Hall.
Hall cut the lead in half just 1:07 after Moody scored when she lined a direct kick past Mann from just outside the 18-yard box. Thirty-eight seconds later, Hall scored on a penalty kick for her fifth goal of the season. Hall nearly one upped Sliney's heroics by tying the match in the final minutes.
On another direct kick from approximately the same spot she had scored from earlier, Hall sniped a shot that glanced off the crossbar with a minute to play.
Mann also stonewalled an ORU rally in the 71st minute, needing help from the crossbar on an Emily Gagnon's initial try. After Gagnon's shot bounded back into the box, Mann made a diving save on Jessica Kellogg's shot from point blank range. Kellogg then missed wide on a rebound attempt.
"We finally got some good bounces," Johnson said. "Some of the breaks we got tonight were things that have gone against us all season long."
The win ended the Jags' season at 3-11-2 overall and 1-4-1 in the Mid-Con. Oral Roberts closed at 10-9 and 3-3 in the league.
Mann finished with six stops in the win while Morrison made six saves in the loss. Senior Maggie Mistovich (Dyer, Ind./Marian Catholic) tried a team-high four shots while Kellogg had eight attempts for the guests.
"We came out with a great deal of energy and enthusiasm," Johnson said. "The girls wanted to send the seniors out with a win and had every intention of doing just that."
Despite the record, Johnson is optimistic about what's in the cards for next season.
"We have a lot of young kids coming back," Johnson said. "We came out tonight and played well against the team that won the conference last year and played very well this year.
"We have a lot of positives going on in our program."
