EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women's Soccer came up just short in a competitive 2-1 battle against the University of Akron at Strassweg Field on Thursday.
The Screaming Eagles (0-2-1) put together a solid performance on wet field conditions Thursday night. USI doubled Akron (2-0-0) in shot attempts, 18-9, while placing 10 shots on goal compared to the Zips' six on target.
Sophomore midfielder
Olivia Hass paced the Screaming Eagles with four shots and three on goal. Four others had multiple shot attempts. Junior defender
Emma Schut scored her first goal of the season, converting from the spot in the second half. Schut and the rest of USI's defensive backline, including sophomore defender
Tierney Mullady, junior defender
Ava Hess, and sophomore defender
Paulina Campos, played every minute in the contest. Senior midfielder
Kamryn Bea also recorded a full 90 minutes in a strong effort. Between the posts, sophomore goalkeeper
Merrick Schwalbach made four saves.
Thursday's match finally kicked off after a lightning delay of one hour and 45 minutes from the original scheduled start time. After time to settle into the match and the wet field conditions, USI generated three shots in the first 20 minutes, two of which went off the goalposts. USI's solid build-up play led to more chances in the rest of the first half, but the score remained 0-0 going into halftime.
Akron came out of halftime with a couple of shots that Schwalbach saved. USI continued to make good connections into the attacking half of the field. However, Akron ended up striking first with a goal off a quick, short corner in the 66
th minute to take a 1-0 advantage. Then nearly two minutes later, the Screaming Eagles responded when Schut stepped up and converted from the penalty spot to knot the match back up at 1-1. Taking back the momentum, USI created a handful of shots in the ensuing minutes that Akron saved or blocked. After the tough luck for USI on the attacking end, Akron went the other way minutes later and scored the go-ahead goal off a corner kick in the 82
nd minute to end up with the 2-1 result.
After concluding a season-opening three-match homestand on Thursday night, the Screaming Eagles will hit the road for the first time in the regular season on Sunday when USI visits Purdue University Fort Wayne. Kickoff is slated for Noon CT.
