PONTIAC, Mich. - Playing its first match in three weeks, the IUPUI women's soccer team earned a hard fought road draw on Wednesday afternoon (Feb. 24) as the Jaguars and host Detroit Mercy ended tied, 0-0. Sophomore goalkeeper AP Woodall faced 23 total shots and posted six saves to earn her second shutout of the season. 

IUPUI moved to 1-0-1 on the year while Detroit Mercy is now 1-1-1 in Horizon League play. 

"It was a great effort all around," head coach Chris Johnson said. "After sitting out three weeks and just getting back to playing, I can't fault the effort. We allowed them a lot of shots from distance, but nothing too dangerous. Offensively, we just didn't convert. (Bueckers) was a real difference maker for us out there all day today. 

"AP was good. She stepped up when she needed to and stopped some of their plays before they even got started. She was really solid back there."

Woodall was busy from the opening kick, facing a pair of corner kicks and four shot attempts in the game's opening nine minutes. The Titans outshot the Jaguars 13-6 in the opening half. Her only save of the opening 45 minutes came in the 28th minute when she stopped an attempt from Alexis McNeil. Conversely, IUPUI's lone shot on frame in the first half came from Valentine Pursey, who tested UDM's Marisa Silver in the 35th minute. 

IUPUI had an early shot attempt go awry as freshman Sam Slimak, making her season debut, got in behind Silver, but fired high of target in the game's opening minutes. 

IUPUI forced the offensive issue early in the second half, using possession to get attempts from sophomore Maya Lacognato from the left side. Lacognato attempted a team-high five shots while both Pursey and Slimak had four attempts each. The Jags were downright unlucky in the 62nd minute when Elizabeth Bueckers had a shot aimed for inside the near post, but had the attempt hit off Pursey before it got to goal. 

Johnson had five freshmen making their collegiate debuts on Wednesday with Slimak and Alex Stocker earning starting nods. After playing just 12 players in the opener, 16 different Jaguars saw the field on Wednesday. 

"The first half we were not good," Johnson said. "The second half was much better. We came out and looked like a team that had been sitting out for three weeks to start the game. The second half was much better and I thought we did a good job of creating scoring opportunities."

Woodall has now played 200 minutes to start the year without yielding a goal and hasn't allowed a goal in more than 209 consecutive minutes dating back to the 2019 campaign. 

"We were very excited to get to play a game after our quarantine," Woodall said. "Although we didn't get the win, it was nice to get a shutout and come into Milwaukee next week with two shutouts."

The Jaguars will return to action next Wednesday, Mar. 3 when they face #HLWSOC preseason favorite Milwaukee on the road at 2:00 p.m.