INDIANAPOLIS - Despite outshooting visiting Eastern Illinois by a 22-14 margin, the IUPUI women's soccer team was unable to dent the net in the 2015 season opener on Friday night (Aug. 21) as the two sides played to a scoreless draw. Freshman goalkeeper Catherine Schmidt recorded her third career shutout while the forward duo of Krissy Kirkhoff and Tori Minnich teamed to fire 15 of the Jaguars' 22 shots. 

Hannah Miller led EIU (0-0-1) with five shot attempts. 

IUPUI (0-0-1) had quality chances throughout, outshooting EIU 7-2 in the opening 15-plus minutes. The Jags missed a golden opportunity less than five minutes in when Minnich's initial attempt was stuffed and Haley Shelton fired just over the crossbar with EIU goalie Maddie Lyon beaten on the play. Later, Lyon plucked attempts from Kirkhoff and Kalli Shepler-Tucker to account for part of her game-high nine stops in her collegiate debut. 

The IUPUI attack slowed once the Jaguars went to the bench, although the Jaguars maintained a 12-8 shot advantage at the break. In the second half, IUPUI regained momentum after both teams started slowly. Freshman Denise Veldman had a potential go-ahead goal negated due to an offsides call in the 74th minute and just four minutes later, another offsides call snuffed out a potential breakaway after Schmidt launched a punt over the top of EIU's high defensive line. 

IUPUI closed regulation strong as both Jessica Flores and Kalli Shepler-Tucker had shots go high of target in the final minutes and Kirkhoff missed an empty net chance to the right of the post in the 89th minute.

Determined to get the win, Minnich was a menace in the first overtime period, getting three quality looks against the EIU defense. She had a tough angle attempt ring off the left post in the 92nd minute and later had a header cleared off the line by Lyon in the 100th minute. Lyon's final save of the night came in the 108th minute against Kirkhoff as the IUPUI attacker tried to sneak a shot just inside the near post after attacking from the left flank. 

"I was really happy with the effort level for 110 minutes. I thought the girls played really hard the entire time and we got some quality minutes from some kids off the bench," IUPUI Head Coach Chris Johnson said. "We created a lot of good chances, we just couldn't put them away. We're going to have to be able to put balls away or we're not going to win too many games. 

"It was a huge improvement over last week."

After being blitzed by Ball State in the exhibition opener, IUPUI rebounded nicely against EIU on Friday night. Kirkhoff's nine shots were one shy of matching her career-high while Minnich's six attempts were also one short of matching her career-best. Schmidt needed just three saves to earn the shutout as the back line of Maddie Riedford, Sierra Bryant, Grace Perkowitz and Sam Bathurst kept the game clean for much of the night. 

Johnson used 17 different players with five individuals making their IUPUI debuts on Friday. In addition to the praise for his own players, Johnson also applauded the fan support for the season opener. 

"We'd definitely like to thank the men's soccer team for coming out and cheering us on," Johnson said. "They were loud and engaged and made an impact on the match. Hopefully they'll continue to support us and we'll support them in the same manner. They made it a lot of fun tonight."

IUPUI will return to action on Sunday (Aug. 23) when the Jaguars host UIC at 1:00 p.m. at Carroll Stadium. Admission is free and open to the public. Following the match, the IUPUI women's soccer program will be hosting a fund raising event at the downtown BW3's location.