The BG women’s soccer team wrapped up their non-conference openers this weekend, dropping games to Navy and Delaware at the Navy tournament in Annapolis. The Falcons fought a tough Navy squad to a 3-1 final score Friday before falling to Delaware 2-0 Sunday.
The highlight of the weekend came in the match against Navy when freshman standout Tiernay Tilford scored the lone Falcon goal with 2:17 left in the second half.
Tilford’s goal, the first of her collegiate career, ended a three game scoring drought for BG.
Once again, the scoreboard does not accurately reflect the effort and skill of the Falcon squad, which faces two formidable opponents this weekend. The team has matched up well to all of their non-conference opponents. They just aren’t getting the same scoring breaks as the opposition.
“Even though we’ve lost five consecutive games, we’ve never once been outplayed,” head coach Andy Richards said.
Richards said the team remains positive and confident going into Mid-American Conference play.
“Delaware was very good. We knew that [Navy and Delaware] are very good teams. We’re challenging ourselves and hoping to learn to play at that level,” Richards said.
So far this season, the team hasn’t had a problem with playing at a highly competitive level. The problem is consistently putting the ball in the net.
“We continue to create some wonderful opportunities, but we are not taking advantage of those opportunities,” Richards said.
The Falcons outshot Navy 7-4 and Delaware 6-4 in the first halves of those games, showing a strong offensive attack. The squad has just found itself unlucky when trying to finished most of their offensive drives.
The squad remains strong defensively. The defense kept Navy scoreless for the entire first half before Navy’s Sarah Hessinger found the net 6:51 into the second half. Her teammate Brigitte Fox added a pair of goals at 63:11 and 73:02 to seal the game at 3-0. In Sunday’s match, Delaware’s Alli D’Amico scored just 4:01 into the contest. The Blue Hens didn’t score again until midway through the second half when Mary Beth Creed fired a shot from the left side.
“We had a magnificent performance by Ali Shingler,” Richards said.
Keeper Shingler had a great weekend in goal with four saves against Navy and seven in the Delaware contest. Richards credits her with keeping the team in the games.
With the first six games of the season purposefully scheduled against stiff competition, the squad is more than ready to begin MAC play on Friday. After starting the season 1-5-0, the team returns home to kick off conference play. The Falcons host MAC opponent Ohio University Friday at 4 p.m.
