Evansville handed the BG women’s soccer team its sixth consecutive loss as the Falcons fall to 0-6-0 on the season. The Purple Aces won 2-1 in OT Sunday afternoon.
Bowling Green took an early lead with senior Madeline Wideman’s unassisted goal just before the 13 minute mark in the first half. Much of the first half was even, but Evansville took over once the second half began. The Aces tied the game up 1-1 just after 10 minutes into the second half and controlled much of the play for the remainder of the game. After both teams remained scoreless for the rest of the half, the match went into overtime where Evansville made the game-winning goal just 1:17 into OT.
Head coach Lindsay Basalyga believes it is only a matter of time before the Falcons are able to win their first game with the improvements they are making with each game and the desire they have to get that win.
“Evansville came in 6-2-1, so we knew it was going to be a competitive game, and for us every game we keep walking away we’re getting better and better every game,” Basalyga said. “I keep telling the players I wish I could look into a crystal ball and tell them when it’s going to start clicking in terms of results. I mean that’s why athletes play. We want results on the day.”
Senior co-captain Alyssa Carmack knows her team is close to everything coming together for them. She feels her team’s confidence grows each week as they learn and grow with each game and as Coach Basalyga continues to push them.
“I think we’re right there, we’re just a step away from really everything coming together,” Carmack said. “I think that every week in practice our confidence grows. I think that Lindsay pushes us to become the best that we can be, and I think that her pushing us and always being on us gives us more confidence that she believes in us [and] that we should believe in ourselves. The end result wasn’t what we expected, but I think that every day we learn from it and next time we know what mistakes not to make.”
Senior Madeline Wideman, who scored the Falcons’ only goal on the game, said the key to closing out close games is to continue to push for a second goal and maintaining that fight the entire match.
“You know, after we score the first goal it seems we need to just keep pushing and pressuring them the entire time. We can’t drop off and our attitudes can’t drop off because need to keep going to get the second goal,” said Wideman. “My team fights. We fight until the very end. We might not get the result but you can bet that we will get on the field and we will work our butts off the entire game.”
The Falcons head into MAC play this week beginning with a match at Ohio University on Friday, Sept. 27. The match is set to begin at 4 p.m. in Athens.
