Box Score
The Bruin women knew it was going to be a tough match against the Georgia Gwinnett Grizzlies on Saturday. The Grizzlies have been a dominate team at home posting a 4-1 record and outscoring their opponents 16-1 in their first four home games. To add to the difficulty, the Bruins were playing without starting goalie Tori Anderson after Anderson suffered a head injury in Tuesday's loss in Kentucky.
The teams were excited to be able to play on Georgia Gwinnett's new turf field and this beautiful facility set the stage for the match between the two teams. From the outset, the Grizzlies showed their skill as the team began to bombard Bruin goalie Shelley Hawk, but Hawk would make several excellent saves. The Grizzlies were able to control the pace of the game and the Bruins struggled to take possession of the ball throughout the first half. The Grizzlies struck first in the 21st minute as Amanda Dale scored making the game 1-0.
Less than two minutes later Amairani Almanza scored the Grizzlies second goal to take a 2-0 lead. The Grizzlies continued their dominate play as the Bruins struggled to get anything going offensively. With the first half winding down, the Bruins would yield another goal to make it 3-0 at the break.
In the second half, the story was much the same as the Grizzlies continued to shoot on goal and notched their fourth goal of the night less than 10 minutes into the second half. The Bruins would respond in the second half as Deanna Howard would prevent the shutout and scored to make it 4-1 but it was too little too late as the Grizzlies would score three more times to end the game in a 7-1 rout of the Bruins. With the loss, the Bruins fall to 2-6-0 on the season.
The Bruin women will have some time to rest up and heal from some of their injuries before their next match. The team will benefit from a long homestand over the next few weeks. The first of the home games for the Lady Bruins will be next Saturday night as the team will welcome Clearwater Christian University at 5:00 p.m. at Alumni Stadium.
