The BG women’s soccer team nearly came out of last weekend with a pair of wins, but had to settle for just one victory after a close match against Ball State on Sunday. The squad shut out Miami 2-0 on Friday before battling Ball State to a 2-1 score in a losing effort.
Strong defense was the key in the Falcons’ win over Miami. Allowing only one shot and no shots on goal, the team set school records for fewest shots allowed and fewest shots on goal in a match. Miami’s lone shot, which did not come until early in the second half, sailed safely over the Falcon goal. BG keeper Ali Shingler was in goal for the shutout.
Offensively, the squad was on top of their game, putting together several successful drives and controlling play for most of the first half. BG forward Gina Rossi put the Falcons on the board at 22:07 when she fought off Miami keeper Megan Ortner to put away a cross from Leah Eggleton. The Falcons did not score in the remainder of the first half, but doubled their lead early in the second half. Molly Bremen sent a forward pass in to Britt Anderson, who beat Ortner on the breakaway to put BG up by two.
The win was the third consecutive victory in the team’s first winning streak of the season. The conference victory gives the squad a 2-4-1 record in the Mid-American Conference and a 4-9-1 overall record.
“It was a great result for us,” head coach Andy Richards said. “We needed to get at least one win this weekend. Defensively, we were very sound.”
Richards said the team played such a complete game, it was impossible to name individual standout performances.
“Everybody did so well. It was an intelligent and efficient performance by the whole team,” he said.
Despite such an excellent showing on Friday, the team’s three-game winning streak came to an end on Sunday in a match against Ball State that was decided in less than four minutes.
Both teams were held scoreless through the first half before Ball State’s Laura Bandy gave the Cardinals a 1-0 advantage at 57:49. Britt Anderson evened the score for the Falcons, sending a free kick past BSU keeper Alison Becker at 60:22. Just 1:20 later, BSU’s Dee Nocero scored on a shot from the left side of the box. Nocero’s goal proved to be the difference in the match as neither squad was able to score in the last thirty minutes of play.
“We did a very good job responding to their opening goal. I think we scored the best of the three goals, but we just let ourselves down defensively,” Richards said. “We should have done a better job hanging in the game. Individually, we didn’t really step up.”
The team remains confident and has shown steady signs of improvement as the season progresses. They will spend this week preparing to face conference opponents Kent State and Buffalo on the road this weekend.