MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – In hot and humid conditions Friday night, the Lipscomb women’s soccer team played to a 0-0 draw against Middle Tennessee State.

After a sluggish first half, the Lady Bisons (1-1-1) turned in a great second half and overtime periods but were unable to capitalize on the chances created.

“To start off, MTSU has a great soccer team,” Lipscomb head coach Kevin O’Brien said. “I thought the first half they were sharper, passed better and looked more dangerous. It took us a little bit of time to get into the game.

“At halftime we made some adjustments both personnel and system wise. I thought it was a phenomenal turnaround and a tale of two halves.”

The play in the second half created several chances that O’Brien credited to Kelsie Brouwer, the Middle Tennessee (0-0-2) goalkeeper for making big saves.

“The second half our passing was much crisper and we created some great chances to score and the keeper came up big,” O’Brien said. “Unfortunately, we missed narrowly on a couple of other occasions. I am really proud of the way the girls adjusted and they really responded to a good MTSU team.”

Two chances where Brouwer came up strong came off the foot of junior Baylee LInnell. With just over 24 minutes remaining, senior Callie Cavanaugh intercepted an errant pass from a Blue Raider defender and found a streaking Linnell. However, her shot was just short with Brouwer on the save.

Another opportunity came in the closing seconds of regulation. Linnell had a breakaway on the right side of the field needing to only beat the goalkeeper. As the clock expired, LInnell’s shot went wide right pushing the game into overtime.

Freshman goalkeeper Anna Buhigas stopped all nine shots the Blue Raiders placed on goal to earn her second career and consecutive shutout.

As the Lady Bisons move into a stretch of hosting five-straight home games, O’Brien is happy with the direction of the team.

“I am absolutely thrilled about the determination of the team,” O’Brien said. “At halftime, the status of the lockeroom was a bit depressed. That was rightly so because MTSU was a stronger side.

“The resolve showed, the commitment they made was fantastic. But we need to figure out how to do that at the start of the game and not come out so slow.”

The Lady Bisons make their home opener Monday at 7 p.m. hosting UT-Martin. 

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