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The Bob Jones University women's soccer team dropped a 2-0 decision on Thursday afternoon as they traveled to face NCAA Division II opponent Emory & Henry University in Emory, Virginia.
"I know these are not the results we are used to as a program, but we have purposefully stretched our team this season with a bunch of NCAA DI and NCAA DII teams including Emory & Henry to make sure we are well prepared going into region play and the South Region championship tournament coming up in November."
As today's match got underway, the Bruins faced a lot of early pressure by the Wasps. The Wasps got on the board early as the Bruins tried to clear the ball out of the box, it bounced off of a defender and into the back of the net. Despite the Bruins defensive efforts, Emory & Henry continued to press and added another goal just before half time to make it 2-0.
Bob Jones created a handful of chances in the second half, recording four total shots with two on target, but Emory & Henry's back line and goalkeeper kept the Bruins off the score sheet.Â
The Bruins stayed strong through the final minutes of the game as heavy rain made it's way to Virginia. At the final whistle, the 2-0 decision stood.
Emory & Henry outshot BJU 35 to four throughout the 90 minutes. Margaret Cummings stood strong with 15 saves against a relentless attack from the Wasps.
Following the game, Coach Carmichael said, "the types of games like we had today challenge us and also expose areas that we have to get better at. I have seen a ton of improvement and there's no doubt this type of game will make us stronger when it's most important, but we do want to work hard now so that we can win some of these tougher matches right now as well. After going down a goal due to a misfired clearance that bounced off one of our players into the back of our net we were able to hold things until they scored their second goal due to miscommunication as to who was stepping on their player and cost us a second goal. We had a nice chat at half time, and I was proud that the team could come out and exert more of their will into the game and began creating more opportunities."
He continued saying, "we need to start converting strong 45 minute half performances into 90 minutes if we want to earn a birth to nationals. I was extremely happy to see players talking through the challenges we faced against a strong NCAA DII opponent. I thought we were able to compete all of the second half and Margaret Cummings had many highlight reel saves that kept us in the game. These early tough games are incredibly important in the development of our team, and I am confident we will use today's game as a springboard for a strong performance on Monday at Bryan College. I am confident we are going to get a win streak going."
Up next, the Bruins travel to Tennessee on Monday to face NAIA Bryan College for the first time.Â
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