The Bruins played at Erskine College today to close out the regular season, and battled through a close 1-0 loss.
"We struggled again to get a solid rhythm of play but fought through it and never gave up despite some of the technical breakdowns we were experiencing," Head Coach Chris Carmichael said. "I thought we came out in the second half recharged and played much better and were able to consistently get into the attacking half and created a couple of goal scoring opportunities. On any other day we are getting those into the back of the net but just not today. We continue to challenge and stretch our team playing NCAA DII teams and this will bode well as we now turn our attention to our regional tournament next week."
In the first half, the Bruins had to be more defensive-minded with the constant attack by Erskine. The Flying Fleet got a corner kick only 30 seconds into the match which was one of five in the first half. Bruins' goalkeeper Margaret Provenzano commanded her box really well throughout the whole match, especially on the corner kicks, and she and the Bruins defense didn't allow anything on the 13 total corner kicks by Erskine. The Bruins possessed well in the midfield but struggled to find a consistent rhythm forward in the first half, but they definitely found a little bit of a rhythm in the second half. Halftime score was 0-0.
In the second half, the only big blemish came in the 58th minute when the Flying Fleet were able to score on a free-kick right outside the 18-yard box. The Bruins possessed a lot in the half and were able to move up the field to give themselves scoring opportunities. Midfielders Shannon Miller and Madison Avelino played great serving as a catalyst. The Bruins found two great shots in the half along with a corner kick that nearly connected with a Bruins header. The Bruins showed a sense of urgency for a late equalizer but couldn't put one away, and the match ended 1-0.
Junior Brooke Coursen gave words after the match: "I'm proud of this team and how hard we fought today, because we didn't give up on plays, but kept our heads up. Not the way we wanted to end the regular season but I don't think this game will negatively impact our ability to win another regional championship as we head into the next week."
Junior winger Mady Pfaffenroth also shared some thoughts: "Erskine is a tough team, and while a 1-0 loss is never the result we want, I was proud of how we defended. Our midfield did a great job controlling play, and we created numerous opportunities by playing give-and-go's up the field. As a group, we defended well throughout the game, and [Margaret Provenzano] made several great saves in goal, especially with the number of corners we faced."
This was the final match of the regular season for the Bruins and they head into the region tournament next week with a 4-6-4 record. The tournament schedule will come out in the next week.
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