SMU women’s soccer failed to even out their record after a 2-2 double overtime draw against the Ole Miss Rebels Friday night at Westcott Field.
“We played awful in the first half. We came out really flat in the first half, but we didn’t deserve to be down 1-0. We made a mental mistake in the last minute of the first half when we gave up that goal,” head coach Brent Erwin said.
Ole Miss got on the board first when freshmen Abbie Curran received a cross-pass from a teammate one minute into the second half, giving her the first goal of the night and of her collegiate career. Down 1-0 at the half, the Mustangs ramped up their offense, leading to a goal by sophomore forward Kristin Medeiros off a converted pass from teammate Dylan Jordan just three minutes in to the second half.
Freshman midfielder Devon Herrman gave SMU the lead with her first career goal when in the 65th minute she hit a rebounded ball off Ole Miss goalkeeper Megan Vickery.
“The positives were our freshmen were outstanding,” Erwin said. “Catherine Cox played a wonderful game tonight, Dylan Jordan showed off what she can do, Devon Herrman scored a great goal and was very energetic, and Natalie Heinz really came into the game tonight.”
With the Mustangs up 2-1 with just 15 seconds left in regulation, Ole Miss freshman defender Meredith Snow had her first college career goal when she caught a rebounded ball from teammate Jennifer Hance.Snow knocked the ball past SMU goalkeeper Ashley Gunter to tie the game at 2-2.
“We had a chance for a clearance right in the middle of the field with forty seconds left that would have ended the game, but we missed it, fouled, didn’t defend the set right, and gave them the goal,” Erwin explained. “I told the girls if you give up a goal in the last minute, it’s mental. Most teams, if you get tied 2-2 with 14 seconds left, you lose.”
Gunter came through for the Mustangs in the overtime periods, deflecting one shot from the Rebels in the first overtime, and knocking the other shot off the crossbar to prevent Ole Miss from winning the game. The Mustangs had no shots on goal in either overtime period.
Both teams came up empty handed after the 110 minutes of play, leaving the final score a tie. The tie leaves the Mustangs at 0-1-1, while Ole Miss moves to 0-1-1. The Mustangs fell to nationally ranked Oklahoma State last weekend, while the Rebels previously lost to Western Kentucky in double overtime last weekend.
“We played well in overtime, and I think we were better than them in overtime,” Erwin said. “We had more playing time, and that shows that we have guts and we’re developing into something.”
SMU will host Prairie View A&M on Friday at 7 p.m. followed by the University of Kansas at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
