Danielle Lyman

Saturday night's season opener for the Lady Miners was just another example of how cruel of a game soccer can be at times. Despite controlling play for much of the night and holding a whopping edge in shots, UMR was only able to score once and it wasn't enough to overcome two penalty kick goals for Central Methodist as the Eagles came away with a 2-1 overtime win at the UMR Soccer Complex.

The Lady Miners had a 27-7 advantage in shots for the game, including 16 on goal, but only one of the shots on goal got into the net. That came when Janine Einhellig headed in a cross from Danielle Lyman 12 minutes into the second half to tie the game at one. CMU had taken the lead when Natalie Rolph made a penalty kick after a UMR foul. The Lady Miners had several good scoring opportunities but were turned away by Eagle goalkeeper Megan Shelley as she finished with 14 saves. Brittany Parker, who started the game in goal, had the best chance to win the game in overtime when her shot hit the crossbar three minutes into the second extra period. The Eagles won the game on a penalty kick after UMR was called for hand ball in the box with just 1:13 left in the contest; Heather Case converted the attempt to end the game.

UMR will return to action Wednesday when it hosts Southwest Baptist in a 7 p.m. game at the UMR Soccer Complex.