(Dover, Del.) – In what was the finale of a season-long four-game homestand, the Delaware State women's soccer team (2-6-1) suffered its second consecutive 1-0 loss, this time to the visiting UMBC Retrievers (2-6-1) Friday night at Alumni Stadium.
With this defeat, the Hornets remained winless against UMBC, while Friday night's win for the Retrievers snapped a four-game slide.
“I just think we've lost two tough 1-0 games, but we're much improved from last year,” said head coach Kerri Scroope after the match. “Being this close and having the amount of shots we've had the last two games and not being able to finish has been our problem.”
The lone goal occurred early in the first half, when UMBC's Alexa Quaranta (1) controlled the ball at close range after a shot by forward Amanda Dailey. As a result, Quaranta – who finished the night with a game-high six shots - fired an attempt past DSU's Michele Lammers during the 12th minute.
Despite trailing 1-0 heading the rest of the way, DSU totaled 12 out of its 15 shots in the second period. During the 66th minute, the Hornets had a grand opportunity to tie the game, when UMBC committed a foul deep in DSU territory, resulting in a penalty kick opportunity for defender Morgan Durham. Unfortunately, the senior out of Clayton, N.J., could not capitalize, as her attempt went wide left.
DSU had yet another chance to make it a tie ball game thanks to UMBC committing another one of its game-high 10 infractions. Nevertheless, the Hornets were unable to take advantage, as midfielder Elsie Pratt's back-to-back attempts during the 79th minute from about 20 yards out were to no avail.
At game's end, UMBC totaled 11 shots and eight corner kicks, while winning goalkeeper Jen Nance moved to 2-4-1 on the season with a four-save effort for her first shutout victory of 2015. Lammers, on the other hand, collected three saves, despite allowing the early first half goal.
Coming up, the Columbia Blue & Red will hit the road for back-to-back road games, beginning with George Washington this Sunday afternoon (1 p.m.).
“George Washington is going to be a tough for one us,” said Scroope. “They're usually a Top-100 team. We're just going have to keep our composure, apply some pressure and play hard.”
