MOBILE, Ala. Sophomore defender Jessie Rogers (Fort Collins, Colo.) scored the lone goal for the No. 26 Pioneers as the University of Denver women’s soccer team tied South Alabama 1-1 in double overtime at the Jaguars’ home field on Sunday afternoon.

 

Rogers tied the game with 5:31 remaining to force the game into overtime. She scored her first goal of the season for Denver (12-1-2, 5-0-1 SBC) off a pass from senior forward Taryn Hemmings (Greeley, Colo.) Hemmings collected a pass from fellow senior Jessi Keller (Arvada, Colo.) and played the ball across to Rogers on the far left post.

 

“We pushed a lot of players up front and had Jessie up there to put one of our best headers in the box,” head coach Jeff Hooker said. “It was one of the few times we had a real commitment to finishing. We let ourselves down a number of times today, but we have to give South Alabama a lot of credit. They defended well and they defended with numbers.”

 

South Alabama (4-8-2, 2-2-2 SBC) took a 1-0 lead in the 41st minute. Tiara Smith scored her fifth goal of the season to give the Jaguars the lead. Kelly Tarrant and Landi Wilson assisted on the goal.

 

Denver outshot South Alabama 15-9 in the game, including 10-2 in the second half.

 

“We possessed the ball well in the midfield, but when it came down to attacking in the final third, we lacked the imagination to make the runs and passes to finish on our chances,” Hooker said.

 

Rogers had a fantastic opportunity to give the Pioneers the lead in the final seconds of regulation. She headed a shot on goal, but it deflected off the crossbar as time expired.

 

Junior goalkeeper Mackenzie Snyder (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) finished with three saves in 110 minutes, while Katie Berry made 11 for South Alabama.

 

DU returns to action at Pioneer Field for four consecutive games beginning with a 4 p.m. game against Arkansas State on Friday, Oct. 17. Denver has a 7-2-0 all-time mark against the Indians.

 

 

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