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wsoc
0
MNU (Kan.) MNU (1-1-2)
2
Winner Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) ERAZ (2-0-1)
MNU (Kan.) MNU
(1-1-2)
0
Final
2
Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) ERAZ
(2-0-1)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
MNU (Kan.) MNU 0 0 0
Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) ERAZ 1 1 2

Game Recap: Soccer (W) | | Sports Information Department

Eagles Hand Pioneers First Loss of the Season

despite storm, Pioneers couldn't catch lightning in a bottle

Goals in both halves from Embry-Riddle felled the pressing Pioneers in a 2-0 loss on the first game of a two-game road trip. Despite some moments of possession soccer and a few scrambles in the Eagles' box, the soggy and sometimes interruptive weather, high altitude, and tenacity of the Eagles proved too much for MNU to overcome.

The Embry-Riddle soccer pitch is a field of dreams for soccer purists as it sits high within the campus, surrounded by the mountain peaks and valleys of Prescott, Arizona. When the lights illuminate this patch of emerald pitch, it sets the stage for the theater of the beautiful game. However, sitting like a raised stage as it does, should a lightning storm find its way down into the valley and crackle at the edges of the field of play, it would be unwise to populate the grass with twenty-two scampering lightning rods. Such was the case on the evening of Thursday, September the 1st, when lightning storms burst out a little too close for comfort and both the Eagles and Pioneers had to take shelter as the tempest moseyed on by.

When the officials and coaches deemed that it would be safe for the match to kick off according to all pertinent rules and regulations, play began between the two eager squads nearly two hours behind schedule. The Pioneers started the match with early pressure from Hannah Benedict and Taryn McClendon, forcing the Eagles defense to rush and cover, and the goalie to make a few uncomfortable saves. However the Pioneers couldn't capitalize on their early efforts and it was the Eagles who struck first when freshman Parker Lee struck a strategic looping shot from outside the box that just beat the outstretched fingers of Pioneers goalkeeper Anesa Curic and took some of the wind out of the Pioneers sails.

The Pioneers went into the locker room at the half being down for the first time in their early season and saw it as an opportunity to turn the tables and come from behind. MNU started the half well enough and were able to earn a few free kicks in dangerous positions that unfortunately never succeeded in finding the back of the net. As the clock ran down, the Pioneers started pressing and taking more risks in search of that leveling goal. However, they were susceptible to counter attacks and the Eagles' Nat Bristol soared down the Pioneers' right flank and notched the second goal of the game with a skillful bender to the back post.

With the Pioneers down two goals, coach Skelly Kellar shuffled the squad and made substitutions hoping to find a spark to earn something out of the game. But it wasn't to be MNU's night. The final whistle blew and the Pioneers left the Embry-Riddle pitch with their first loss of the season. The Pioneers next task will be to face The Master's College Mustangs of Santa Clarita, California also at Embry-Riddle at 9:00. MNU will hope to end their Arizona road trip with a win to set this season back on track.
 
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