Two of the best teams in the Sun Belt Conference competed in a defensive showdown as the Texas State Bobcats (8-2-6, 5-0-4 SBC) drew a scoreless 0-0 tie against the South Alabama Jaguars (9-3-3, 5-1-3 SBC) Friday evening at The Cage in Mobile, Ala.
While the match finished with no score from either team, there was still plenty of action throughout from both sides that saw incredible plays that would prevent a winning outcome overall.
The Bobcats, who boast one of the top offenses in the conference, were stifled and limited with their opportunities as they only had a total of seven shots in the match, four in the first half and three in the second.
In comparison, the Jaguars dominated possession of the ball, more so in the second half, and had almost triple the shots with 20 overall, 10 apiece per half.
Ultimately, the story of this game is not just the missed scoring opportunities from both teams but the heroic efforts of both goalkeepers to preserve the tie.
It had essentially become a staring contest between freshman Brooklyn Escobar and senior Sierra Giorgio, both of whom dared not blink in the face of intense pressure with crucial clutch saves throughout the match.
Escobar had five saves total in comparison to Giorgio’s three, each with crucial saves such as Escobar’s kick save in the 10th minute and Giorgio jumping to block sophomore midfielder Helen Alormenu’s bicycle kick at the 36th minute.
One of the plays that ultimately prevented the game from swinging into South Alabama’s favor was graduate defender Kennley Bradley’s tackle with seven minutes to go in the game, as the Jaguars found an open sophomore forward Andrea Iljkic right at Texas State’s goal.
Escobar came out of the box to prevent a shot from Iljkic, but the forward narrowly avoided her at the blink of an eye and had the go-ahead goal in sight until Bradley tackled from behind.
This match marks Escobar’s fourth shutout on the season, along with this being the sixth draw of the year for the Bobcats, which is a new program record. Each team notched an additional point in their standings.
The Sun Belt Conference regular season title will now fully come down to-the-wire with just one more match to go. The conference tournament has its field of teams established after last night’s results, but the seeding will be determined by this upcoming final set of matches.
Texas State stands tied atop the conference along with Louisiana-Monroe at 19 points each. The Bobcats have a one-point lead in the division with 12, which is currently keeping them as the number one team in the conference.
The maroon and gold have a chance to either outright or take a partial share of the Sun Belt regular-season title for the first time since 2018 this upcoming Wednesday, Oct. 29, at Bobcat Soccer Complex in their final regular-season game against the James Madison Dukes, their first matchup since the Conference Championship game last season.
The match is slated to kick off at 7 p.m. and will be available to stream on ESPN+.
