The Lady Bruins suffered a tough loss on Friday evening in Charleston, South Carolina as the team fell to the Citadel Bulldogs 4-0. With the loss, the team falls to 0-3-1 on the season.
"We knew going into this match it would be a huge challenge," Bruins Head Coach Chris Carmichael said. "The Citadel is a strong NCAA DI program and very athletic and organized. We had a good effort but needed to bring our best technical game and our first touches and passes often let us down."
From the opening kickoff, the Bulldogs came out strong as their tempo and pace were sound. The Bruins had trouble slowing the Bulldogs as the Citadel offense fired multiple shots including one off the crossbar in the opening minutes.
In the 16th minute of action, Bulldogs Hannah Roth scored the first goal of the game as she put a rebounded opportunity past Bruins' keepers Sarah Lloyd. The Bruins came back looking to find the equalizer as Abby Davis fired a shot wide. The Bulldogs were able to add to their lead as Emily Mason buried a shot to make it 2-0. Despite their efforts, the half ended with the Bruins trailing by a two-goal deficit.
As the second half began, the Bruins came out looking to get something going offensively. The Bulldogs did a good job limiting the Bruins offense as chances were few and far between. In the 79th minute of play, Logan Dix scored for the Bulldogs to push the lead to 3-0. The Bulldogs would add one more goal before time expired as the Bruins suffered a 4-0 road loss.
"Given the nature of our competition today it was a good effort and I'm sure we will be a stronger team for it," Coach Carmichael said. "We did create some good opportunities in the attacking third but needed to be able to hold possession longer until we could try to open things up. We also needed to be more patient in the build up and to possess out of pressure faster."
The Bulldogs outshot the Bruins 41-4 in the match including a 20-2 on-goal margin. With the loss, the Bruins fall to 0-3-1 to start their 2018 season. Next up, the Bruins will be back home on Thursday as they welcome Wesleyan College to Alumni Stadium.
