The Bowling Green Women’s Soccer team was handed its first loss of the season this past Friday at Morehead State, dropping the contest in overtime 2-1. The loss drops the Falcons to 2-1 on the season after a quick 2-0 start.
“This is a great learning moment for our team as we will gain experience on how to manage a game through the highs and lows,” head coach Lindsay Basalyga said.
Both teams played strong on the defensive end during the first half, holding each other scoreless despite an onslaught of shots on both sides.
Bowling Green took eight, while Morehead took seven in the half. Redshirt freshman Erica Hubert led the team with three in the half, and team captain, Hayley Parkinson, recorded two shots.
BG goalie Lauren Cadel recorded three saves in the period, the most shots she’s faced in a half all season.
The Falcon’s major opportunity came during the 21st minute, when sophomore Mikaela Couch’s attempt missed off the crossbar and Alexa Cheripko’s follow up attempt was saved by the Eagle’s keeper Kaitlyn Murphy.
The Eagles offensive attack in the first half was highlighted by two corner kicks, but they failed to convert on their chances, missing wide on the first and high on the second.
The second half started off in the same fashion, as both teams went scoreless for the first fifteen minutes.
Morehead struck first when forward Dani Wilson scored on a penalty kick in the 61st minute.
The Falcons evened the score four minutes later when sophomore, Leah Runkle, scored on a putback of Morgan Abbitt’s missed shot on goal. It was Runkle’s first goal of the season.
Both teams then went scoreless the rest of the half.
The Eagles came storming out on offense in overtime, taking three shots and two corner kicks. Runkle answered back with her own attempt in the 97th minute, though it missed wide.
The winning goal was scored by Morehead’s Wilson in the 99th minute of the match.
Despite the loss, the Falcons are optimistic for the season still, taking the loss as an opportunity to learn and move forward.
“We are definitely taking away some experience and some learning. We know what it feels like to lose and we don’t like it. We are going to do everything we can to learn from this, get better and come back stronger than ever,” Cheripko said. “In practice we can work on different things and watch video to get better.”
The team is in action again this Wednesday in Detroit at Detroit University at 3 p.m.
