CEDAR CITY, Utah, Oct. 17 – Southern Utah (6-5-2, 3-2-1 Big Sky) got on the board first, but Eastern Washington (6-6-0, 3-3-0 Big Sky) came from behind for a 2-1 win at the Thunderbird Soccer Field on Friday. The Eagles held off SUU during a scoreless second half to become the first visiting opponent to pick up a victory in Cedar City this year.
“2-1 is a dangerous score, but not for the team that is behind, but the team that is ahead. A lot of times that second goal is kind of a kick in the pants,” explained SUU head coach Becky Hogan. “I thought we came out of the half and took control of the game, but we made some mistakes and they scored some goals.”
The T-Birds claimed an early lead when junior forward Nancy Brich took a cross from freshman Abbie Flandro and fired the ball into the back of the net to give the home team a 1-0 advantage. The score marked her fourth of the season.
Eastern Washington evened things up just a few minutes later after a penalty set up a free kick for the visitors outside the top left corner of the box. Senior forward Cassie Black sent a shot to the far post where it was deflected by SUU goalkeeper Taylor Bolding. The ball bounced to the feet of Laci Rennaker who tucked away the equalizer.
The count remained even at a goal apiece until the 43rd minute when Eastern Washington's Chloe Williams was able to dribble through the defense to the middle of the box and fire a shot into the left side of net to give her team a 2-1 advantage.
The Eagles held off the Thunderbirds in the second half, as SUU was unable to capitalize on several solid scoring opportunities. The T-Birds outshot the visitors by a count of 6-2 down the stretch, as well as an overall count of 11-9 for the match, but came up empty after the early goal to fall by a final score of 2-1.
“We had opportunities to score. We should have dismantled them in the second half, especially with the wind,” stated Hogan. “I guess, credit to them, they went into a shell and kept us out.”
Flandro became the third Thunderbird to record her third assist of the year, while Brich is now the team's leading goal-scorer. Natalie Schwery made five saves to pick up the win for the Eagles while Taylor Bolding took the loss after allowing two goals and stopping four shots.
Southern Utah will play its final home match of the regular season this Sunday at noon, as it gets set to host Big Sky leader Montana. Live stats and video for the match are available at www.suutbirds.com.
