Athletics Headlines: Women's Soccer Loses Season Opener

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August 31, 2008

Women's Soccer Loses Season Opener

The Missouri Baptist Lady Spartans women’s soccer team started their regular season out on a low note as they fell to the Benedictine College Ravens 5-0 at Soccer Park Monday night. Raven junior forward Anne Schafer tallied two goals and an assist to lead her team to victory. Sophomore Lauren Heinisch also scored twice while junior Lauren Jackson added a score. Spartan forward Taylor Hay had two shots for Missouri Baptist.

Early, it seemed that the Spartans could control the tempo. For the first nine minutes, Missouri Baptist possessed the ball well, doing so mostly in the Ravens’ end of the field. After a good scoring chance for Missouri Baptist, Benedictine quickly countered. A long ball by Raven goalkeeper Carissa Gregory found the foot of Heinish, who snuck behind Spartan defenders and put the Ravens on top 1-0 9:13 into the first half. Using that swing in momentum, just sixty seconds later Angeline Finazzo powered into the goal box and sent a perfect ball across the face of the goal, and Schafer knocked it in.

Missouri Baptist had their chances in the first half. Kahithe gave the team a spark off the bench, and almost put the team on the board with a nice cross that was saved off the head of sophomore forward Amy Kelly. Freshman goalkeeper Kekua Lupton also entered the game in the latter part of the first half.

Lupton was greeted by a couple of Benedictine counter attacks. She turned Allysa Cirian away twice but Lauren Jackson was able to slip one by, and the half ended with Benedictine up 3-0.

In the second half, the Ravens struck early again as Heinish scored her second. Shafer added her second with 28:49 left to end the scoring. Missouri Baptist second year coach Deno Merrick felt that this game didn’t reflect what his team could do.

“I didn’t expect this, our team didn’t expect this. We are better than this score,” Merrick said. “As a team we were not prepared for this game, we started off well, but once they scored, we lost our concentration.”

The Lady Spartans play Bethel College next on September 4 in North Newton, Kansas.