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The Maroons dueled UW-Stevens Point (14-1-1) to a 0-0 tie in double overtime on Sunday.

“We had a really good game—we tied a team ranked #15 in the country and we could have beaten them with a little more luck in the final third,” commented third-year forward Allison Hegel.

The Pointers have had a spectacular season thus far, with Sunday’s shutout making a total of 13 games in which their opponents went scoreless. This game, though, was different: The Pointers couldn’t put anything on the scoreboard thanks to spectacular defense from the Maroons’ backfield.

“Our back line players were definitely the MVPs of the game—I don’t remember Stevens Point getting any scary scoring opportunities because our defense was pressing them hard the whole game,” Hegel said.

“It’s especially impressive because Stevens Point has scored at least once in every other game they’ve played this season, but they couldn’t score on us!” continued Hegel.

Additionally, Stevens Points’s only loss came three few weeks ago in a 1–4 loss to Wheaton. The Thunder defeated the Maroons last month in a 1–0 game as well.

Chicago is the first team to shut the Pointers out this year with goalie Emma Gormley’s second shutout in a row and the sixth of her season. She made six saves on Sunday in comparison to Pointer Liz Hunter’s three. But it’s not just the Maroon defense that contributed to a deadlock against this top-ranked team.

“We were in the game the whole time, winning 50-50 balls in the midfield despite their pushing and rough play,” Hegel said.

Chicago dominated the game’s first half as well as both periods of overtime play, outshooting the Pointers 10-5 and 5-1 respectively. The most solid assault from Wisconsin came during the second half, when they outshot the Maroons 11-1 but still could not get past Chicago’s powerhouse defense.

Such a great performance against a top-ranked team bodes well for Chicago’s future in conference play. UAA games resume Friday with a home game against the NYU Violets. The Maroons remain ranked first in UAA Conference.