CINCINNATI, Ohio – The University of Evansville women's soccer team certainly started off Friday's season-opening contest impressively, but the spell of possession would eventually fade as Xavier scored a pair of goals in the opening stanza on the way to a 2-0 victory over the Aces at Xavier Soccer Complex.
"Today will be a learning opportunity for some of the players on the team," UE head coach Krista McKendree said. "We went down early on the road and also dealt with a couple of delays. We made some mistakes tonight, but as long as we can learn from them and get back to playing good soccer, which I think we did for a majority of this game, we'll be better off for it."
Whitney Biggs, who came up with four saves in the first half, made a pair of impressive stops in the opening half hour, but she'd be unable to do anything about Courtney Kobashigawa's opener as the Musketeer senior hammered home the opening tally off of a corner kick in the 30
th minute. The hosts would double their advantage six minutes later as Maddie Tierney slotted home a penalty to make it 2-0.
"From the beginning, it was very good soccer for us," McKendree said. "We played well, we played fast, and we kept possession. We created chances, but we have to be able to put one away in that first 15 minutes or make them make a few saves. That probably changes the game a little bit."
"We lost a little bit of our rhythm later in the half," continued the ninth-year UE head coach. "We probably got a little too direct, and I think it opened the game up. We had a 20-minute span where we weren't playing the way we need to play, and it gave them the opportunities that they needed."
The second half, which would feature a lightning delay of nearly an hour, saw the Aces fire five more shots, but unfortunately for UE, the team was unable to break through the Musketeer defense.
"We were very happy with the way that the team came out after the delay," McKendree said. "We were able to get going a little bit and take the game to them. I'm really proud of the fight and perseverance we showed, even if we weren't able to come away with the win."
The Aces will return to action later this weekend as UE will hit the road for Miami (Ohio) on Sunday. Kickoff is slated for 12 p.m. Central time.
NOTES: The Aces are 12-10-2 overall in season opening matches … UE is 4-5-2 in openers played on the road … UE began the season in Ohio for just the second time ever. Previously, the Aces picked up a 1-0 win over Wright State in 1999 … The Aces are 17-9-2 overall against Ohio schools, including a 5-9-2 mark against Xavier and a 2-2 record versus Miami … XU and UE have met in five of the last six seasons, with the Musketeers picking up a 3-2 overtime victory in Evansville last season … The last Aces win in the series was a 2-0 decision in 2010. The last road victory was by the same scoreline in 1998 … UE and XU first met in 1993 … UE beat MU last season 2-1 at Arad McCutchan Stadium … This will be the second away meeting in the series' history. UE dropped the first 3-2 in 2010 … Sara Osinski scored in both contests against XU and MU last season, and Bronwyn Boswell scored a goal and assisted another.
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