The Slippery Rock University women’s soccer team played their first match this Thursday, a non-conference matchup against the Notre Dame College Falcons. The women were unable to come away with victory however, losing 3-1 in a very physical match.
The game remained scoreless for much of the first half until the Falcons’ Lytia Hart scored in the 33rd minute with an assist by Norah Barnes. Trailing 1-0 going into the second half, The Rock’s woes continued as the Falcons’ Alexis Manoa scored two unassisted goals, one in the 51st minute and the other in 85th minute, the latter being scored off a rebound of SRU’s sophomore goalie, Charlotte Elrod.
Elrod played all 90 minutes in goal and made one save.
“Notre Dame is a tough and very physical team,” Rock head coach Jessica Griggs explained. “From the very beginning they put constant pressure on us and continued that pressure throughout the match.”
The Green and White’s lone goal of the evening came in the 87th minute from sophomore Brooke Testa. The goal was the fourth of Testa’s career.
The goal proved to be inconsequential with the Falcons being able to hold off The Rock’s offense for the final minutes of the match.
Griggs said she is not going to dwell on the loss.
“I am not reflecting on today,” Griggs said. “Today happened and now we are to look to Saturday and begin to prepare for West Virginia Wesleyan.”
The women will look to add their first win to the win column this weekend with another home non-conference matchup against the no. 22 ranked West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats. The match is set for 2 p.m. this Saturday at James Egli Field in Slippery Rock.
