HOUSTON, Texas – The Golden Eagles fall to the No. 25 in the nation and No. 1 West seed Rice in the C-USA Championship Semifinal. The Golden Eagles fell to the Owls 5-3 on penalty kicks after a full 90 minutes and two overtime periods.

Southern Miss and Rice concluded 110 minutes of play tied at 0-0 and the contest went to penalty kicks to determine the game’s winner in Houston, Texas.

Defense
The Golden Eagles played exceptional defense contending with nationally ranked Rice and prevented the Owls from scoring through 90 minutes of play and two ten-minute overtime periods. Senior defender Caitlin Pierce was outstanding defensively on the Golden Eagle’s backline locking down multiple scoring attempts from the Owls.

Madisyn Flammia stepped up for the Golden Eagles recording 110 minutes on the field of play and contributed much to the Golden Eagle’s defensive effort.

Offense
Offensively neither the Golden Eagles or the Owls could find the back of the net through two overtime periods. The Golden Eagles would take 16 shots through the contest four of which were on goal.

In the net
Goalkeeper Kendell Mindnich played a complete game in the net and recorded five saves before the contest was decided.

Penalty kicks 
The game came down to the wire with the Golden Eagles edged out on penalty kicks, 5-3. Seniors Hailey Pohevitz, Ariel Diaz and Caitlin Pierce each found the back of the net in the shootout, but fell short with Rice scoring on all five of their opportunities. The C-USA Championship shootout was the first in Southern Miss program history.

The Golden Eagles end their Spring campaign 7-3-1 making their longest post season run since 2018.

Following the Golden Eagles
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