University of Houston
Louisville
Houston Records Second Straight Conference Tie
9/22/2002 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Sept. 22, 2002
Louisville sophomore Lisa Martin tied the score at 2-2 with a shot past Houston goalie Erin Ferguson with just under nine minutes remaining in overtime, and the Louisville defense held off the Cougars in the closing minutes as the University of Houston women's soccer team recorded their second straight tie in Conference USA play with a 2-2 final against the Cards on Sunday (Sept. 22) afternoon at Robertson Stadium.
Sophomore midfielder Nikki Hawkins put Houston on top, 1-0, with an unassisted goal in the 21st minute. After a Louisville foul, senior Ashley Fortenberry's free kick was cleared by the Louisville defenders at the goal, and Hawkins stole the ball back and sailed the shot past Louisville goalie Meredith Miller for the opening score.
The Cougars carried a 1-0 lead into the locker room at half-time, but the Cardinals marched back and tied the game at 1-1 in the 52nd minute on an unassisted goal by Megan Rasmussen.
With just under 15 minutes in regulation, freshman Meghan Moreo took a pass from fellow freshman Kelly Golden and kicked it past Miller as Houston took a 2-1 lead with 14:52 left on the clock. Less than six minutes later, Martin tied the match before double overtime.
Houston, who's offense controlled the entire first half, made 17 shots in the second half alone, but the Cardinals' defense turned it up a notch and were able to hold off the Houston offense, stifling six scoring chances by the Cougars.
Fortenberry lead the Cougars with seven shots on the day, four of which were aimed at the goal, while Hawkins and Golden each had five shots.
With today's contest going to double-overtime, Houston ties the 1999 squad for the school record of the most successive overtime-games with three. During the 1999 season, the Cougars had three straight overtime matches Oct. 22-29, 1999.
The tie maintains Houston's current seven-game home win streak dating back to last season, which is the second-longest home winning streak in school history behind the 11-game home streak from 1998-99.
Houston's season record now rests at 3-2-2, including 0-0-2 in C-USA play. The Cougars head back on the road and travel to Chicago and Cincinnati next weekend to take on C-USA opponents DePaul (Sept. 27) and Cincinnati (Sept. 29) before returning home for a non-conference match-up against Southwest Texas on Oct. 2.
