Women's Soccer Falls Short in Second Half
Belmont’s women’s soccer team lost 2-1 to the Southern Illinois University Salukis after an encouraging first half on Saturday.
A late momentum shift led to the loss as SIU took greater advantage of opportunities than the Bruins, who seemed set to dictate the pace. Despite taking significantly more shots and shots on goal than SIU in the first half, none of them were able to be converted into scores.
“We had the momentum most of the first, and then they scored those two goals 10 minutes into the second,” said head coach Kelsey Cameron. “Then I thought we got the momentum back for a little bit and we pressed, had a few chances, and obviously scored the goal.”
The first half saw a really strong performance from Belmont, with the ball rarely entering the home team’s side.
By the time the final whistle blew, the Bruins led a scoreless first half with 11 shots to the Salukis’ three.
However, once the game resumed for the second half, the momentum had clearly shifted.
After no shots on goal in the first half, the Salukis immediately broke through on the offensive and scored their first goal of the game two minutes into the half.
It would not be long before SIU struck again to put the Bruins further on the back foot.
In the 63rd minute, the Salukis would score once again, leaving Belmont with a 2-0 hole to crawl out of.
The Bruins would not have to wait much longer for things to start looking up.
In the 68th minute, junior Kaitlyn Elliot scored her eighth career goal and brought the score to 2-1 with 22 minutes to go.
“It was that push that we needed. It was definitely important to get two more in there or at least tie it up, but we still overall worked really hard, and I’m proud of our performance,” said Elliot.
With the clock rapidly ticking down, the Bruins pushed hard in the final moments and took two shots in the 88th and 89th minutes.
Senior Laken Whittington’s shot especially seemed to have a chance to tie the game until SIU goalkeeper Kaylynn Miller made an amazing save.
When the final buzzer sounded, it was a disappointing result for the Bruins, who had controlled the pace for much of the match. By the end of the game, Belmont took 11 shots on goal compared to SIU’s two.
The SIU defense and goalkeeper proved to be strong obstacles for Belmont, which they struggled greatly to overcome, handing them their fifth loss of the season.
“They capitalized on their momentum. They scored while they had the momentum and we couldn’t,” said Cameron.
Now 2-5-4, the Belmont Bruins are set to return to E.S. Rose Park to face off against Evansville on Saturday.
This article was written by Mason Merkle
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