Second Half Rally Comes Up Short as Women's Soccer Falls, 2-1, at MSU

Sunday, August 30

Morehead, Ky.

1 P.M.

Xavier University

2-2

Morehead State

2-2

Xavier

Morehead State

Photo by: Doug Cochran

Second Half Rally Comes Up Short as Women's Soccer Falls, 2-1, at MSU

08.30.15 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Hayley Schletker, Xavier Athletic Communications

MOREHEAD, Ky. - Kenadie Carlson's second goal of the season looked to start another second-half rally for the Xavier women's soccer team, but the Musketeers (2-2-0) were unable to score the equalizer, falling, 2-1, at Morehead State this afternoon.

"Credit Morehead, they executed their game-plan perfectly," said head coach Woody Sherwood. "We knew coming in this was probably our most challenging environment to play in. With a field that's 64 yards wide, you're always under pressure, there's very little time and space."

Morehead State (2-2-0) jumped in front 10 minutes into the match on a header from Angela Black coming off a corner kick. The Eagles pushed the lead out to two less than 10 minutes later on a goal by Abby Timm.

Behind, 2-0, the Musketeers looked to repeat the comebacks from the matches against Evansville and Purdue, where they scored three unanswered goals to take the lead in each game.

MSU entered the break holding on to the two goal lead but the Musketeers pressured the MSU defense, creating seven shots, six on goal, in the first period.

After the break, Xavier broke into the scoring column in the 65th minute when Carlson, a sophomore, found ball off a pass from sophomore Maddie Tierney, scoring to cut the lead down to one, 2-1.

XU created opportunities to pull the score into a draw, including a shot-on goal for Carlson that was saved by MSU's goalkeeper Kaitlyn Murphy, but were unable to score setting the final score at 2-1 in favor of the Eagles.

Despite playing without the attacking threat of leading scorer Tori Doss, due to injury, Xavier created a balanced offensive attack that saw eight Musketeers take shots to outshoot the Eagles, 14-13. The Musketeers were led by Carlson's three shots, all on-goal. Sophomore Addie Englehart and freshman Samantha Dewey each added a pair. Goalkeeper Rachel Piccus collected five saves to keep the Musketeers within striking distance.

"After a slow first 25 minutes, we actually played alright, but down 2-0 on the road against a team that's bunkering is very challenging to break down," said Sherwood. "On the positive side, we are creating opportunities to score this year."

The Musketeers are back in action on Friday when they travel across the river to face Northern Kentucky at 7:00 p.m. Live stats will be available from NKUNorse.com and a video broadcast will be available online from ESPN3. Click here for more information on the WatchESPN application.