Southern Illinois’ women’s soccer team (0-1) followed up their loss against UT Martin (1-0) with a double overtime draw against Northern Alabama (0-1) on an extremely hot day in Alabama that saw a heat index as high as 97 degrees.

The Salukis led Northern Alabama in shots 16-7 and shots on goal 8-3, but Northern Alabama goalie, Payton Yates, defended the Saluki attack well with eight saves on the day.

Junior Forward Emma Spotak led the Salukis today in shots with four, including three in overtime, and tied for the lead in shots on goal with two.

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Senior forward Charlotte Kellet, junior defender Izzi Gurney, and junior forward Emily Hayward each led the Lions with one shot on goal each.

Southern Illinois got off to a hot start by outshooting Northern Alabama six to zero in the first half, with two on goal. Both shots on goal were by Defender Katy Quinn. The Saluki defense suppressed the Northern Alabama offense right away by not allowing a single shot on goal in the first half.

The score remained 0-0 at the end of the first half, despite a promising attack by the Salukis  in the last five minutes that included two throw-ins as well as a free kick by Sophomore Midfielder, Ashlyn Henrie.

SIU led the charge in the first half, but Northern Alabama came roaring back with seven shots in the second half alone, with three being on goal. Luckily for the Salukis, Maddy Alaluf was there at goalie, saving all three shots on goal. Northern Alabama would not have another shot on goal the rest of the match.

Both teams had last minute efforts that were unsuccessful. A miscommunication by Alaluf set up a corner kick for the Lions that was off-target and a foul in the last minute by Northern Alabama defender Morgan Ebert set up a free kick for Spotak. The free kick led to a corner kick by SIU and the Salukis failed to get a shot off as time expired in regulation.

Goalies highlighted the regulation periods, with nine total saves, six coming from Yates and three coming from Alaluf.

SIU had many chances early on in the first overtime period, with two shots in the first four minutes by Spotak and Sophomore forward, Mckinley Stiff. However, both were off-target.

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Spotak had another two shots to end the first overtime period, with one being off-target and the other aimed towards the left of the net but stopped by Yates.

Northern Alabama had a chance to get on the board with two minutes after a goal kick that led to another throw in by them, but they were unsuccessful at getting a shot off.

The second overtime period was uneventful, with only one shot on goal by the Salukis by Junior Defender, Kaitlin Ducharme. However, the last two minutes of the match saw some action once again, with both teams trading throw-ins to set their team up for the win. Both teams were unsuccessful, and ended the match in a 0-0 tie.

The Salukis will take on the Missouri-Kansas City Roos on Friday in their home opener, with a 7 p.m scheduled kick-off.

Sports reporter Joseph Bernard can be reached at [email protected] or on twitter @Jojobernard2001.

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