SFA Drops Tight 1-0 Decision to Minnesota
8/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Minnesota 1, SFA 0 (PDF)
Box Score
BATON ROUGE, La. - The Stephen F. Austin women's soccer team played Minnesota tough for 90 minutes in the first game of the "Battle on the Bayou" on Friday evening, but the Golden Gophers were able to come away with the 1-0 victory at LSU Soccer Stadium.
"When you don't get the result that you want it's going to sting and you're going to be disappointed," said head coach Wally Crittenden. "But what we are excited about is the competitive mentality that we saw from our players and the way that we came out and attempted to execute in our defensive schemes and our attacking ideas. I think the things we did really well tonight were a direct result to the improvements we made this past week in training."
Redshirt sophomore Lillie Ehlert had a career night for the Ladyjacks in her first full game of the season at goalkeeper. She tied a career high with five saves - four of which came in the second half. Ehlert gobbled up numerous loose balls on the evening and was effective coming off her line to clear hazardous crosses from the Minnesota wingers. She helped slow down a potent Gopher attack and kept SFA right in the thick of things for 90 minutes.
The lone goal of the night came off a corner kick in the 64th minute. Minnesota's Ashley Pafko drove a ball to Tori Burnett who was able to head it in from six yards out.
The Ladyjacks (0-2-0) dictated the run of play out of the gate, playing a physical brand of soccer and creating dangerous opportunities in the opening stages of the game. Senior defender Chantal Curry recorded the first shot of the game from the left corner of the penalty area for SFA's first real threat. Junior midfielder Hailey Hunt fired another shot on frame from 12 yards out just moments later, requiring a diving save by the Gopher keeper.
In the 22nd minute, the Ladyjacks created their best scoring chance after getting numbers in the box on a cross. Kelly Ann Craig was the first to get a foot on the ball in the scramble, putting an attempt on frame. The rebound came out to freshman forward Breanna Moore, who powered a header just wide of the left post.
Halfway through the first half, SFA led Minnesota 4-2 in shots and 3-0 in shots on goal.
In the closing seconds of the first period, Craig once again presented a wonderful chance for SFA. The right back found space in the right side of the box and slotted a ball in the middle. The Ladyjacks had numbers but couldn't get on the end of Craig's cross before the Gophers cleared it away.
The score remained 0-0 into the halftime break.
Minnesota (2-0-1) established a better attack in the final 45 minutes, recording 12 shots and taking seven corner kicks in the second half alone. Craig saved two goals from her near post position on two of those Gopher corner kicks.
SFA's best opportunity to draw even after the Gopher goal in the 64th minute came from a flick by Amanda Doyle late in the contest. The junior midfielder's shot skimmed just wide of goal. Senior midfielder Rachel Owens accounted for the Ladyjacks' other shot in the period.
"We created some fantastic chances tonight," Crittenden said. "I thought we limited their chances to two primary areas - shots beyond 25 yards and corners. All in all, it was a significant improvement from what we saw in Fayetteville a week ago. We'll now gear up for Western Kentucky on Sunday. It'll be a tough test in which we will have to play with the same intensity that we showed tonight."
The Ladyjacks and Lady Toppers will play on Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m. Follow @SFA_Soccer on Twitter for live updates.
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