The Shippensburg University women's soccer team valiantly withstood the advances of No. 17 Kutztown on Wednesday but could not overcome one blemish on the night, as the Raiders dropped a 1-0 decision to the Golden Bears in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division matchup at Keystone Field.
Shippensburg (1-5-1, 0-5-0 PSAC East) posted a 3-2 advantage in corner kicks on the night but had to withstand a Kutztown (6-0-1, 4-0-0 PSAC East) squad that possessed the ball for 56 percent of the match and put forth 10 shots that were on target.
With the match still scoreless in the first half,
Kirstin Brown and
Mia Kemp kept it deadlocked with a sterling defensive sequence. Brown made a point-blank save on the redirect of a carom from a cross, and Kemp made a team save on a second shot that was headed toward the lower left portion of the goal by clearing it away just before the end line.
In the 22nd minute,
Emma Eisenhart fired a long-range shot that rang off the crossbar.
Four minutes later, Carly Louey got the Golden Bears on the board. She completed a long run up the left wing into the box and worked around her defender to convert a shot at close range.
SU had another solid scoring chance in the waning moments of the first half, as pressure led KU keeper Morgan O'Donnell out of the goal box, but the Raiders could not get a shot on target during the opportunity.
Brown was strong in goal, making nine saves for the Raiders. Through five league matches, Brown is averaging seven saves per contest (35 total).
The contest was a Morgan's Message match for the Golden Bears. Learn more about Morgan's Message at
https://www.morgansmessage.org/.
Shippensburg is back in action at 5 p.m. Saturday when it hosts East Stroudsburg at David See Field.
