BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – No. 12 Ole Miss (3-0-1) and Samford (3-0-1) played to a hard fought scoreless draw on a sweltering afternoon at the Samford Soccer Stadium on Sunday.

The opposing offenses struggled to break down their counterparts on both ends of the pitch, with Samford holding a narrow 7-6 lead in shots on the day. Ashley Orkus was called up four times and came up with the goods each time for her fourth clean sheet of the season.

While both teams fought hard throughout, not much action materialized until the closing minutes of the first half.

Just minutes after Samford missed a golden chance in front of goal to take the lead, Stella Downing nearly broke through for the Rebels with a darting solo run in the dying seconds of the period, ultimately sending a shot straight at the keeper.

Disaster nearly struck in the 53^rd minute for Ole Miss as keeper Ashley Orkus was called for a foul in the box, resulting in a Samford penalty. However, the ensuing shot from Kylie Gazza was wide.

The stroke of fortune immediately lifted the intensity from the Rebel side as Ole Miss grew back into the game and created a number of half chances of its own.

In the 68^th minute, Mo O’Connor nearly set Ramsey Davis through on goal with a ball over the top, thwarted only by an excellent recovery run from the Samford defender. Just a couple of minutes later, Downing found Lauren Montgomery alone at the top of for a shot that drifted wide.

After weathering another storm from the home team, Ole Miss pushed for the winner in the final five minutes of the match. However, the Rebels couldn’t break through, settling for a draw.

Following back to back road matches, Ole Miss returns home to Oxford on Thursday, taking on Louisiana Tech at 6 p.m. CT. The match will be available for streaming through SEC Network +.