TULSA, Okla. - Playing a tough and physical Summit League match, the Southern Utah
University women's soccer team could not overcome pair of first half goals by
Oral Roberts University, dropping a 2-0 decision to ORU Friday evening.
The Thunderbirds (4-9-1, 1-5 Summit League)
outshot the Golden Eagles (8-6-1, 3-2-1 Summit League) 13-12 overall and 8-3 in
the second half. The match saw Southern Utah whistled for 13 fouls and issued
three yellow cards after coming into the match with the second fewest fouls in
the conference.
Oral Roberts took advantage of a great bounce
to take a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute. An ORU player took a shot but
it hit the post and rebound went right to the Golden Eagles who kicked in the
rebound. Less than two minutes later, ORU added another goal to make it a
two-goal advantage.
SUU put together a number of attacks in the
second half but Oral Roberts keeper Amanda Wheeler made a couple saves to keep
the Thunderbirds off the board. Freshman forward Sabrina Hernandez had
consecutive shots stopped by Wheeler in the opening minutes of the second
period. Another SUU scoring threat just missed as freshman midfielder Kally
Barker's header off of junior midfielder Riley Bassett's corner kick sailed
high of goal.
SUU redshirt-sophomore keeper Charly Booth
made three saves while Bassett took a team-high three shots.
The Thunderbirds will play their final road
match of the season on Sunday, facing Centenary College at 11 a.m. (MST) in
Shreveport, La.