Box Score
Two defensive lapses allowed the Ohio Christian University Trailblazers to steal a 2-1 victory in the Lady Bruins home opener on Saturday evening. "We had good chances to get the ball in goal, and today it just didn't happen for us," Head Coach Chris Carmichael said. "But we'll build on what we did well and continue to fix the things we need to moving forward."
The Bruins entered the 2016 season after going 1-1 in preseason play. The team would be in for a tough test as they welcomed the Trailblazers to Alumni Stadium. The energy was high among the Bruin faithful as they crowd looked forward to another season of soccer.
From the opening whistle, the Bruins were able to control possession but several opportunities to moving into scoring position were turned aside by the OCU defense. The Trailblazers began to press the Bruins defense, but neither team was able to come away with a good scoring chance early on. That all changed when Lexi Paas created space and fired a shot just past the outstretched arms of Bruins goalkeeper Jessica Baun to make it 1-0. The Bruins immediately came back on the attack and used good possession and combination play to work the ball into the attacking third. Miriam Lozano had a golden opportunity at the midway point of the half, but her shot was deflected wide. As the halftime buzzer sounded, the Bruins trailed the Trailblazers 1-0. Despite the score, the Bruins were playing well.
"It took us a while to get things organized," Coach Carmichael said. "We're still experimenting with different players, situations and combinations and these first games give us opportunity to do that."
In the second half, the Bruins stormed out of the gate and went on the attack. The team fed off of the play of Kaitlyn Hummel and company as they continued to create opportunities to score. The team finally found the equalizing goal as Paige Englehart was fouled just inside the box, giving the Bruins a penalty kick. Mimi Lozano made a confident penalty to notch the game at 1-1.
The Bruins didn't let up as they continued to look for the go-ahead goal. In the 64th minute, the Trailblazers scored on a looping shot over the head of goalkeeper Christiana Young to take a 2-1 advantage. From there, the Bruins tried to move into position to score. Mimi Lozano found Anna Daulton on a centering pass, but Daulton couldn't finish the play as the Bruins continued to trail. Despite many opportunities, the team fell just short as OCU held on for the 2-1 win.
"All in all we had a good first game although the score says otherwise," Bruins defenseman Kaitlyn Hummel said. "We need to work on getting a good rhythm of play going and just put the ball in the back of the net."
The Bruins outshot the Trailblazers 23-13 throughout the match, including 13 shots on frame. Next up, the Bruins will welcome Reinhardt University to Greenville on Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m.
