Box Score
The Bruins women took the field on Saturday afternoon against the Kentucky Christian University Knights. The Bruins were coming off a 1-0 victory over the Ohio Christian University on Friday afternoon. The team is riding a four-game winning streak and in each of those games the Bruins have held their opponents scoreless. The Bruins have outscored their opponents 12-0 in the last four matches.
The Bruins defense has been outstanding as of late, and the offense has been able to provide a steady punch to keep the team winning. The Knights came into the match on Saturday with an 0-6 record and have struggled in the 2013 season. Their most recent loss came against Ohio Christian University 8-3. The Bruins were hoping to keep up their winning ways as they took the field against the Knights.
From the opening kickoff, the Bruins and Knights exchanged possession with neither team able to get control. The Bruins had several good opportunities, but with their second match in two days, the team came out a little slow in the first half. The Bruins would strike first as Spencer Martin put the Bruins on the board with a beautiful goal making it 1-0. The Knights would get their chance as Tori Anderson was called for a foul just inside the box giving KCU a penalty kick. Anderson guessed right on the kick but was unable to bring in the save as the Knights broke the Bruins shutout streak to make the score 1-1. As the first half was coming to a close, Tessie Estrella provided an offensive spark off the bench as she notched a goal to make it 2-1 at the break.
"KCU came out strong and kept themselves in the match," Coach Carmichael said. "Technically we weren't sharp in the first half, but we were able to make some adjustments and reorganize at halftime to get back to our possession style play which opened up the field a lot for us."
In the second half, the Bruins came out on fire and began to pound the Knight's net with shots. The team used the midfield much more efficiently to be able to stretch the KCU defense. Deanna Howard netted a goal to put the Bruins up 3-1 and the team was in full swing as the offense continued to pressure the net and dominate the Knights. Lauren Peek netted her 4th goal of the season to make it 4-1, and from there the Bruins got three more unanswered goals from Tessie Estrella, Lauren Peek and Deanna Howard to extend their lead to 7-1. The buzzer sounded, ending the Bruins dominant performance against KCU with a 7-1 victory.
"It's always great to get two wins on the road," Coach Carmichael said. "We have been working hard in training and we will continue to do so this week to keep it going. It is great to see our forwards and midfielders combining and getting some great looks on goal and fantastic finishes. We are doing a much better job in the attacking third but still need to work on being more consistent, patient, faster and technically sharper."
The Bruins are now 5-2-1 on the season and are riding a five-game winning streak. The Bruins have continued to develop and improve and the team is really beginning to gel on the field. Lauren Peek, Tessie Estrella and Deanna Howard each netted two goals while Spencer Martin added one. The team will look to continue their impressive run as they travel to Florida next week for back to back matches against Florida Christian and Clearwater Christian on Friday and Saturday.
