With rain coming down in sheets at the Butler Bowl, the Butler women’s soccer team battled Tennessee-Martin to a scoreless draw on Sunday.

The Bulldogs (3-2-1) and Skyhawks (1-3-1) had to gear up not only for a battle against each other, but also against the remnants of Hurricane Isaac.

Photo by Heather Iwinski

The back-and-forth affair had its fair share of close calls.

For Butler, the closest of these came in the 59th minute when freshman midfielder Sophia Maccagnone sent a shot off the crossbar. The near miss was one of her four shots.

“I was able to get those chances mainly because my teammates were making them possible,” Maccagnone said. “They were opening space for me and making runs that caused UT Martin to spread out.”

After 110 minutes, neither team was able to dent the twine, despite a combined 33 shots between the squads.

“In weather like today, it’s very important for me to concentrate on catching the ball and being ready to react if the ball slips from my hands,” freshman goalkeeper Mackenzie Hopkins said.

The Bulldogs tallied 16 shots, but only two of them were on net.

Hopkins recorded five saves in the tie.

Last Wednesday, the Bulldogs grabbed their third victory of the season, downing Purdue 1-0.

The win was Butler’s first against the Boilermakers (4-2-0) in school history.

“It doesn’t matter which league each team plays in,” Hopkins said. “It matters which team is better on that day.”

The game’s only goal was scored when Maccagnone was able to step up and bury a penalty kick, helping Butler to its first road victory of the season.

“I did feel a lot of pressure,” Maccagnone said. “There wasn’t that much time left on the clock, and you never know if that could be our last opportunity to score.

“I knew my team had confidence in me, so I wanted to make sure I didn’t disappoint my teammates.”

The Bulldogs will head north Sunday to take on the University of Michigan.