Lady Yellowjackets Drop another Close One (Sept. 28, 2003)
Box Score
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The MSU Billings women’s
soccer team lost its second one-goal game of the week Sunday,
falling 2-1 to San Francisco State University. The Yellowjackets,
who fell to 3-6-1 with the loss, have lost six of their last seven
games dating back to September 11. The two one-goal losses this
week were both to regionally ranked opponents, including a 1-0
overtime loss to Chico State on Wednesday.
“Obviously we’re disappointed to lose,” said
head coach Don Trentham. “It’s tough to come home 0-3 from this
trip, but there were some positives that I think will make us
better down the road. Mandy Reed played a great defensive game
and Megan Plank did a good job in goal again. Our bench, which is
mostly freshmen, got a lot of experience and is starting to gain a
lot of confidence.”
San Francisco State (8-3), ranked fourth in
the Far West Region, took a 2-0 halftime lead with goals in the 17th and 43rd minutes. The Gators out-shot the
Yellowjackets 12-4 in the first half and 19-8 in the game. Plank was in goal for the Jackets, making eight saves. She now
has a team-high 49 saves for the season and a 1.12 goals-against
average.
MSUB was able to put pressure on the Gator
defense late in the game, coming away with Ally Taylor’s goal at
88:36. Margot Merrill-Johnson assisted on the goal, cutting the SFSU lead to one with just over 11 minutes to play. The goal was
Taylor’s fourth of the season, tying her with Merrill-Johnson for
the team lead. The Yellowjackets continued to force the issue,
but couldn’t find the net for the tying score.
“We came out in the second half and played
with a little more passion,” said Trentham. “The goal we gave up
right at the end of the first half was a pretty soft goal. It
just kind of got behind us and we couldn’t get possession of it.
We continued to work hard in the second half and kept them out of
our net. We definitely played better on this trip than we did on
our Seattle trip. We played two teams that are ranked in the
region and lost one in overtime and the other by one goal. So
although it’s disappointing to lose, we had a pretty decent
performance for it being our third game in five days against three
good teams.”
MSU Billings returns home to host University
of Mary on Sunday, October 5. The game will be part of a
men’s/women’s double-header on Student Day at Yellowjacket Field.
The game will be the first home match for the Jackets since
September 6.
“Right now we’re mentally and physically
drained,” said Trentham. “But we’re going to take a couple days
off and the start preparing for Mary. Really, that’s a big game
for us. We’ve played seven straight games on the road and have
lost six, so we’re ready to play at home with our fans.” |
