In its first Missouri Valley Conference display of the season, the women’s soccer team lost 2-0 to Southern Illinois University on Sunday afternoon, ending its five-match unbeaten streak.
The Salukis had the better start of the game in the first 10 minutes, hitting the crossbar off a shot from outside the box and came close to an early lead in Music City.
The remainder of the half was even, but with five minutes left, both teams had the chance to get a late first-half goal. SIU was awarded a free kick from an ideal position outside of the 18-yard-box but failed to capitalize off a devastating counterattack from senior Bruin Mai Thy Nguyen.
In the second half, both teams continued to push as they sought to find the back of the net and the advantage.
In the 74th minute, Sarah Doyle saved a penalty, but the Saluki’s scored off the rebound by SIU’s Christy Murauskis. There was nothing Doyle could have done this time to save the shot.
The Salukis repeated themselves 10 minutes later and doubled their advantage with a shot into the bottom left corner from distance by senior Kaitlin DuCharme.
With the match, Belmont lost against SIU for the second time in program history, following the 2019 display between the two.
“We're staying focused, we will respond by learning from this loss just as we do each game, taking things match by match,” said head coach Heather Henson.
The Bruins will host University of Illinois Chicago on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at E.S. Rose Park as they look to get their first MVC home win of the season.
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PHOTO Betty Wiseman shares words of encouragement to women’s soccer team. Courtesy of Belmont Athletics.
This article was written by Federico Pravettoni
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