Jenna Bishop scored a pair of goals as the Bruins edged Johnson University (TN) 2-1 on Friday night in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Bruins improve to 5-6 on the season with the road win.
"The team pulled together and played a very solid game on both sides of the ball team against a very solid Johnson team," Bruins Head Coach Chris Carmichael said. This is for sure the best Johnson team we've played in our history with them. Our possession and mobility was very good and we had a lot of great combination.
The Bruins came into the match on the heels of a tough loss on Saturday as they fell to Brewton-Parker College 2-1. The Bruins faced off against the Royals for the fifth time in program history with the Bruins victorious in each of the previous four contests.
In the opening minutes, the Bruins came out with good possession and pace of play as they used good combinations to create scoring chances. The Royals were able to keep the Bruins at bay but Jenna Bishop gave the Bruins the lead as she maneuvered around defenders and fired a laser into the upper 90 of the net. With the goal, the Bruins led 1-0.
It looked as though the Bruins would take their lead into halftime but the Royals had other plans as they scored off a corner kick play to tie the game at 1-1. Both teams weren't able to gain the upper hand as the first half ended with the score tied 1-1.
In the second half, the Bruins and Royals came out looking for the go-ahead goal. Jenna Bishop again proved to be the difference-maker for the Bruins as the sophomore scored her second goal of the contest off a beautiful combination sequence with Gabriela Gonzalez as the Bruins led 2-1.
The Royals tried to answer back again with the equalizer but the Bruins defense turned in a dominant performance as they thwarted scoring opportunities to allow the Bruins to hang on for a 2-1 win.
"Our backs did a phenomenal job taking away their attacks," Coach Carmichael said. "They held strong and did an amazing job building the attack out of the back and we did a greet job linking the thirds of the field and keeping the ball for the most part in our attacking half."
The Bruins will wrap up the regular season next week as the team will face the University of Pikeville on November 5 in Pikeville, Kentucky.
