INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI women's soccer team put up a strong defensive effort and held a tough Oakland University team off the scoreboard as the Jaguars and Golden Grizzlies played to a scoreless draw at Carroll Stadium on Saturday (Oct. 1). Oakland outshot the Jaguars by a 13-11 margin, but the goalkeeping duo of Ashton Kudlo and Cailynn Junk combined on a clean sheet to earn a point in the Horizon League standings. 

Oakland (3-2-7, 0-1-3 HL) had the better run of play and better scoring chances, so in many respects, IUPUI was fortunate to end up with a draw. 

Senior Maya Turner was brilliant along the Jaguars' back line and head coach Chris Johnson shuffled a multitude of bodies alongside her as Makenna Collins, Abbey Renner, Abbie Schad, Kailyn Smith, Alex Stocker and Sophia White all contributed to the shutout. 

"I think that was probably the best team we've seen in quite a while," Johnson said. "They've outshot their opponents 18-5, 15-5 and 14-7 the last three games. They throw a lot of numbers forward in the attack. We had some opportunities 2-v-2 with them but just couldn't quite capitalize.

"We had some ladies play all 90 minutes today and we had some that played 10 minutes off the bench, but they all contributed to this effort and I'm proud of them for that."

Neither side built much of anything in the first half, although Oakland had attempts in the final two minutes from Sophie Wilsey and Sharon Sampson that caused some concern on the IUPUI side. The Golden Grizzlies also had what appeared to be a score wiped off the board in the 23rd minute when a two-on-one opportunity resulted in an easy shot getting past Ashton Kudlo. However, the linesman called the Oakland attacker offsides, negating the score. 

The start of the second half saw Oakland on an all out offensive, including a flurry in the 49th minute that nearly opened the scoring. Karabo Dhlamini put an initial attempt on frame that Kudlo deflected off the crossbar. On the rebound, Carmela Barro had an attempt headed inside the far post that Stocker cleared for a team save. In the 80th minute, Kudlo got tangled up with OU's Alexa Sabbagh at the top of the box, resulting in both players leaving the game. Junk, a freshman, was called upon for her fifth appearance of the season and was immediately tested. OU's Sami Lopez tried a hard shot from the left side that Junk cast aside and Shannon Brown's rebound attempt went wide of frame. 

IUPUI had some attempts late, including a shot from in close from Maya Lacognato in the 85th minute, that she was unable to steer on target. In the 88th minute, Lacognato drew a foul 20 yards from goal, but Emma Frey's free kick was knocked down by an Oakland defender. 

Sam Slimak led the IUPUI offense with four shot attempts and Frey had two from the midfield. Kudlo finished with four saves and Junk made one stop in just more than 10 minutes of work. The shutout was IUPUI's seventh of the season. 

"It feels really good. We work really hard everyday, in and out, to do what we did here," Stocker said of the shutout. "Now, we just need to get attacks and shots on our offensive side. 

"I think we did really well. (Turner) today did an awesome job of holding us and leading us on the back line. She's a really nice, strong voice back there, so I'm really proud to have her as our leading voice."

Amazingly, Saturday's contest was the first time IUPUI and Oakland had ever played to a draw as there had been a victor in all 22 of the previous matchups. 

The Jaguars will be on the road this week when they travel to Milwaukee on Thursday night (Oct. 6) for a 5:00 p.m. Central (6 Eastern) kick. That match will be seen on ESPN+.