Ashland Women Suffer First Home Loss To Northwood

Ashland Women Suffer First Home Loss To Northwood

LINK – ASHLAND UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S SOCCER PAGE

THE TURNING POINT: Northwood senior Jessica Flores scored the game-winning goal 1:14 into the second overtime.

STAT OF THE GAME: The Eagles took 31 shots in the game, their most since Sept. 7, 2008, a game in which they also recorded 31 in a 4-1 win at St. Joseph's. 

Ashland University's women's soccer team suffered its first home loss of the season against Northwood, 2-1, on Sunday (Oct. 16) afternoon in double overtime to fall into third place in the Great Lakes Intercollege Athletic Conference. 

"That's sports," Ashland head coach Danny Krispinsky said. "I thought we played well enough to get the win. We had opportunities to get the win. But that's the game of soccer. You have to take advantage of your opportunities, and we didn't. We had several of them." 

The match was scoreless at halftime even though the Eagles (8-2-3 overall, 5-2-1 GLIAC) had a 9-3 advantage in the shot column.

Northwood senior Jessica Kalbfleisch broke the tie during the 49th minute to give the Timberwolves (8-5, 5-3) a 1-0 lead.

During the 86th minute, the Eagles tied the match at 1. Junior defender Bridget McEldowney scored her first goal of the season, heading in a corner kick from sophomore midfielder Lauren Gokey. The assist moved Gokey into third on the team with eight points on the season.

The Eagles had 28 shots before overtime. Northwood had four.

"I was very confident," Krispinsky said. "I thought we were going to put it away in the first two minutes. That didn't happen. That's what happens in this conference if you don't put a team away." 

Ashland took three more shots in the first overtime, but failed to score.

Just 1:14 into the second overtime, Northwood took its fifth shot of the match and scored to end the game. 

The Eagles were caught offside nine times in the match. The ball found the back of the net during two of the offside calls.

Timberwolves senior goalie Samantha Cook recorded 14 saves in the match. That total accounts for 24 percent of the saves she's made throughout the entire season, in which she's started in all 13 games. Only two GLIAC goaltenders have recorded more saves in a game this season. 

"She was the man of the match," Krispinsky said. "She made saves all over the place. She kept them in it and kept them on top of the game."

Prior to the game, AU senior defender Jessica Brown was honored during the Senior Day festivities. Brown, the only senior on the team, is a part of an Eagle defense that has forced seven shutouts this season, the team's most since the 2013 season in which she started in 12 games a freshman.

The Eagles entered the day tied for second place in the GLIAC with Michigan Tech (9-2-2, 5-1-2). The Huskies tied sixth-place Walsh in a scoreless match on Sunday to gain sole possession of second.

UP NEXT: The Eagles will hit the road to take on Michigan Tech on Friday (Oct. 21) at 5 p.m. in Houghton, Mich.

"We have a tough challenge," Krispinsky said. "We have to go up to Michigan Tech, and they're a heck of a team. We have to prepare. They're a quality team, and they're well coached. It's going to be a battle."

 
 

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