INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI women's soccer team continued its undefeated start to the 2022 campaign on Thursday night (Aug. 25) as the Jaguars played Bellarmine to a scoreless draw in its home opener at Michael A. Carroll Stadium. Sophomore goalkeeper Ashton Kudlo earned her second shutout of the season, making four stops on the evening. 

"I thought we came out with some good energy in the first half. We created some real good opportunities and should've maybe made some better decisions or should've just put those things away and we're in a different game than we are now," head coach Chris Johnson said. "I thought the energy in the second half was good again. I thought we came out and really kept them where we wanted them in terms of keeping them in front of us. They really didn't create any opportunities until the last five minutes of the game. 

"We're not very efficient in creating opportunities and we're not very efficient in finishing those at this point in time."

Early on, it looked as though the IUPUI (2-0-1) attack would strike early, largely behind the play of Maya Lacognato and Sam Slimak. Lacognato slid a shot just wide of frame in the fifth minute and then had a quality look fly high of target in the tenth minute. Bellarmine (0-1-1) tested Kudlo later in the half as Lindsay Durham rang a shot off the crossbar midway through the stanza. 

The IUPUI attack struggled to create opportunities in the second half while Kudlo benefited from the woodwork again late in the contest. On this occasion, Alexa Orozco ripped a shot off the bar in the 89th minute and Kudlo stopped a Tristan Whalen breakaway attempt at the final horn for her lone second half save. Bellarmine's Elyssa Francis made one save in the final 45 minutes, stopping a Lacognato try in the 83rd minute. 

Both teams closed with seven shot attempts with the Jaguars getting just one on target. The two sides each attempted just one corner kick as both defenses were stingy all evening long. Lacognato had a game-high three shot attempts while Abbie Schad had two tries from her midfield post. 

Kudlo improved to 2-0-1 on the season and lowered her goals against average to 0.67 in the process while raising her save percentage to .867 on the year. It marked her third career shutout in just five appearances. 

"I thought (our defense) kept play in front of them. I thought the outside mids were a little better at helping our outside backs than they had been in the previous game," Johnson said. "We didn't give up as many breakaway situations as we had in the previous game."

Senior Maya Turner played all 90 minutes along the back line while Sophia White and Makenna Collins were called upon for 70-plus minutes of work. Abbey Renner and Alex Stocker provided a lift in the defensive third as well off the bench. 

IUPUI will cap the homestand on Sunday (Aug. 28) when the Jaguars host Western Illinois at 1:00 p.m. at Carroll Stadium. Admission will be FREE of charge for Sunday's contest.