The SMU Lady Mustangs and the North Texas Mean Green played to a 1-1 draw Wednesday night. The game was ruled a tie after two 10 minute overtimes.
Junior Kim Harvey scored for the Mustangs, tallying her team leading 11th goal of the season. Sophomore Jill Heinemann sent a high, looping cross into the box, and Harvey out muscled her defender and UNT’s goaltender to head it over the goal line. The goal came in the 62nd minute.
“It was a fifty-fifty ball,” midfielder Harvey said. “The goaltender was coming out hard, but I got there first.”
UNT’s only goal came in the 82nd minute, when junior forward Marilyn Marin sent an unstoppable shot into the upper right corner of the net. It was Marin’s NCAA leading 24th goal of the season.
“Our strategy was to never let (Marin) get into a 1 on 1 situation with our defenders,” Mustang coach George Van Linder said, “but she still managed to create chances.”
“Most of us had played against (Marin) before,” Harvey said, “so we knew how good she was. And she’s definitely gotten better in college.”
UNT played a high pressure defense all game, but sophomore forward Erin MacCallum had a superb game, creating problems for the Mean Green defenders. However, she did not always have supporting runs from her teammates.
“We played well together,” MacCallum said, “but it’s sometimes difficult when your wing forwards trying to stay out wide.”
UNT and SMU continued the tradition of playing very physical games, and the head referee let several fouls go uncalled on both teams. “You’ve just got to put your elbows up,” MacCallum said. “You just have to be physical right back.”
“It is a little frustrating,” admitted Harvey, “but you just have to put up with it and keep playing. He was calling it both ways.”
This game marked the 7th time the Mustangs have gone to overtime this season, posting a 2-3-2 record.
“I think we panic a little when we get to overtime,” Van Linder said. “We’re trying to avoid the attitude of ‘here we go again.'”
“We’ve had lots of overtime games,” Harvey said. “It’s a little frustrating, because we haven’t been converting our chances (in regulation) and we’re putting ourselves in this situation.”
Senior forward Tara Comfort missed her second straight game, and sophomore goaltender Erin McLeod went down briefly with a leg injury near the end of the second half.
“I think (McLeod) is just a little sore,” Van Linder said, “and we’re hoping to get Tara back next weekend, in time for the WAC Championships.”
The Mustangs outshot UNT 22-13 for the game, and held a 7-5 advantage in shots on goal. They play at Tulsa on Friday and at Rice on Sunday, before ending the regular season on Nov. 1 at Westcott Field.
“It’s a strange time,” said the coach, “because we’re trying to be relaxed and get our players rested, but at the same time, we’re trying to tie up all the loose ends.”
After the regular season, the Lady Mustangs head to Houston to defend their WAC title.
