INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI women's soccer team fell into a two-goal hole and saw its comeback fall short as the Jaguars dropped a 3-1 decision to Oral Roberts at Michael A. Carroll Stadium on a chilly Friday night (Oct. 16). Senior midfielder Meghan Day took advantage of her first start of the season, depositing her first career goal in the game's 65th minute. ORU (6-7-2) got goals from Amber Mitchell, Kayla Keller and Megan Guico in the win.

"I was pleased with a lot of girls' effort out there tonight. I thought we created opportunities in the first half and just didn't put them away," IUPUI Head Coach Chris Johnson said. "I thought the girls played hard.

"Meghan Day made a resurgent effort out there and put away a nice goal to get us back to 2-1. I was really happy with her effort the entire night. We came back and had a few more opportunities after we got it to 2-1."

IUPUI (5-6-2, 0-2-1 Summit) missed some scoring opportunities early before yielding a goal late in the first half. Mitchell and Ashley Martin teamed on a nifty combination, resulting in Mitchell blasting a bullet from distance past sophomore goalie Catherine Schmidt. The lead grew to 2-0 in the 55th minute when Keller put a shot inside the right post from 10 yards out after Amanda Dial setup the play with a cross from the left side. Keller angled a shot past Schmidt for her sixth score of the year.

The Jaguars continued to create scoring opportunities though and finally dented the net in the 65th minute. ORU was unable to clear the ball from their end, leaving Day alone beyond the penalty box. The veteran blasted a shot from distance, easily getting past ORU goalie Maddie Rhodes to cut the lead in half.

IUPUI nearly pulled even in the 79th minute, but junior Tori Minnich had a shot denied by the crossbar. Classmate Catherine Raster shifted a brilliant cross to the middle of the 18-yard box, hitting Minnich in stride. Minnich went to the ground for a sliding attempt, but saw the shot glance off the underside of the bar and back into play. It would be IUPUI's final shot attempt of the night.

The Jaguars pushed numbers forward to try to get even, leaving the back line vulnerable to being countered. ORU took advantage of an opportunity in the 87th minute, earning a penalty kick after a long run resulted in a foul deep in Jaguar territory. Guico capitalized, slipping a shot to Schmidt's right for her second score of the year.

Schmidt finished with three saves, including stopping multiple first half breakaways. Raster and Day led the IUPUI attack with three shots each, combining to put five on frame. Freshman Maryna Clark made her first career start on Friday night, finishing with one shot attempt in 54 minutes.

"Cat (Raster) and Maryna (Clark) up top were dangerous," Johnson said. "I really liked what I saw out of those two. I think if we continue to have those two and Krissy together up top, we're going to get rhythm going and a good combination for goals."

Kirkhoff was limited to just two shots and had her streak of five straight games with a goal scored snapped.

The Jaguars will continue Summit League play on Sunday when they trek west to play Western Illinois in Macomb at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.