OXFORD, Miss. – With the Tigers unable to find the back of the net in 110 minutes of action, freshman goalkeeper Megan Kinneman came up big on the defensive end with seven saves on the night to help lead the LSU soccer team to a 0-0 draw with the Ole Miss Rebels on Friday at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium.
Kinneman missed matching her career high and season high by just two saves as she stopped nine shots at Illinois during the non-conference season back on Sept. 17.
Neither team was able to find the back of the net in 90 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods as the Tigers (5-6-4, 2-2-3 SEC) and Rebels (5-8-3, 1-4-2) played to their fourth draw in their last six matches in a series that has quickly become the most competitive in the Southeastern Conference.
The Tigers matched their season high with 14 shots on goal on the night and outshot the Rebels by an 18-12 count in total shots and a decisive 14-7 advantage in shots on goal. The Tigers also held a clear lead in corner kicks while attempting seven on the night to just three corner kicks for the Rebels.
“We can’t create any better chances to score than we did tonight. It is frustrating with the difficulty we’ve had in converting on our opportunities,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “We created more great chances in this one tonight than we have all year long, we just didn’t finish. But Megan Kinneman came up big for us defensively and made two or three great saves to keep us level on the scoreboard. She continues to just get better and better with every game and no longer looks like a freshman back there.”
Kinneman made three highlight reel saves on the night to keep the Rebels off the scoreboard with one for each half in regulation and another in the second overtime period.
In the waning moments of the first half, Kinneman dove to her right and stoned an open shot by Ole Miss’ All-SEC midfielder Meredith Snow on a ball that appeared destined for the back of the net just inside the left post in the 41st minute. She followed with a tremendous save in the 72nd minute diving to her right yet again as Dylan Jordan sprung free behind the LSU back line with a rocket shot from inside 10 yards.
Kinneman then denied Ole Miss the win in the second overtime period on a corner kick set piece with just seven minutes remaining as Mandy McCalla fired a shot through traffic from 10 yards in front of goal that was scooped up by Kinneman, who hit the deck to preserve the shutout.
Strikers Carlie Banks and Addie Eggleston provided LSU an opportunity to take control in the first half as the Tigers dominated the pace of play throughout the opening 45 minutes of action.
Eggleston created the first scoring opportunity of the game just 10 minutes in as she slotted a ball through to Banks running behind the Ole Miss back line. Banks broke free in the area and fired a point-blank shot from eight yards directly in front of the net that was snared by Ole Miss goalkeeper Sarah Story.
The Tigers continued to pressure late in the half as Eggleston ripped her first shot on goal of the match in the 34th minute with a left-footed strike from 10 yards that was again saved by Story. Following a brilliant run through the Rebel defense, Eggleston broke free behind the back line and fired a shot from roughly 10 yards in the left side of the area that was saved by Story diving to her right.
With time ticking down before the break, Banks again found herself in space in the penalty box where she positioned herself on a cross by Amy Porter and fired a one-timer directly at Story from the top of the six-yard box. Story was directly in the line of fire to come up with the save.
The Tigers controlled the first half of play as they outshot the Rebels by an 8-4 count in the period and an efficient 7-3 advantage in shots on goal. Each team attempted one corner kick in the frame.
The Tigers will return to the pitch on Sunday afternoon as they make the short trip to Starkville, Miss., for a match against the Mississippi State Bulldogs that is set to kick off at 1 p.m. CT. The Bulldogs dropped to 7-9 overall and 0-7 in SEC play following a 4-0 defeat to Arkansas on Friday night.