After back to back wins at home, the Lady Bruins were on the road on Saturday afternoon as the team fell to Martin Methodist College 5-0 in East Ridge, Tennessee. The Red Hawks scored a pair of early goals and the Bruins couldn't find the answer in the road loss. The Bruins move to 3-4 on the season.
"Martin Methodist showed us why they have been so successful in NAIA," Bruins Head Coach Chris Carmichael said. "They have tremendous depth and speed and are very good technically and represented a constant danger in our defending third. Despite the score I saw a lot of positives as we created a number of goal scoring opportunities and were able to stop the majority of their attacks."
This was the first-ever meeting between the Bruins and Red Hawks. Martin Methodist had a stellar 2019 season finishing 16-5-1 overall and being the NAIA national runner-up after falling in the national championship game.
The Bruins came into the match on the heels of back to back shutout wins at home, but the team knew they would need to be at their best to stop the Red Hawks as both teams took the pitch.
In the opening minutes, the Red Hawks came out with good energy and pace as they advanced the ball into the attacking third. The Bruins defenders kept pace, but the Red Hawks continued to pressure the net.
It didn't take long for Martin Methodist to find the back of the net as a pair of goals in the early minutes put the Bruins in a 2-0 hole. As the first half wore on, the Bruins tried to counter and get into the scoring column but shots wouldn't find the back of the net. The Red Hawks were able to extend their lead as they went into halftime leading the Bruins 3-0.
Despite being down three goals, the Bruins came out looking to get on the board. The team was able to create several good combinations in the attacking third as they freed up Brinkley Adams and Mia Marks for opportunities on frame. Still, the Bruins couldn't seem to find a goal.
The Red Hawks continued to possess the ball effectively and increased their lead with two more goals as the Bruins trailed 5-0 with just minutes to play. The Bruins tried to mount one last push to avoid the shutout, but the Red Hawks defense stood strong as the buzzer sounded to hand the Bruins a 5-0 loss.
"Overall, I was happy with our work effort and we look forward to getting everybody healthy and ready for our matches next week," Coach Carmichael said. "We made a few mistakes and they made us pay for that early in the match. The loss definitely will not define us but we need to make sure that the failure to win fuels us for our upcoming matches this next week."
Next up, the Bruins will be on the road on Tuesday night as tehy face Johnson University (TN) in Knoxville, Tennessee. Kickoff for the match is slated for 4 p.m.
