JONESBORO, AR ? The Arkansas State soccer team dropped its sixth one-goal game of the season as the Lady Indians fell to Sun Belt rival Western Kentucky, 1-0 on Friday afternoon at Indian Soccer Park. The loss drops the Tribe to 5-11-1 on the season overall and 2-5-1 in Sun Belt play while the Lady Toppers improve to 6-6-3 overall and 4-1-1 in conference action.
“This is a tough game to lose especially at home in our senior weekend,” assistant coach Roger Williams Sunday said. “We knew it would be a difficult game because Western Kentucky doesn't allow many goals. We got caught one time and battled until the very end trying to tie the game back up but we were unable to convert on some of our dangerous chances.”
The Lady Indians and Lady Toppers battled all game long with both teams garnering chances to score. The Lady Toppers out-shot the Tribe 11-9 in the game but the Lady Indians controlled the tempo late in the second half as they out-shot WKU 7-4 in the second frame.
The Lady Toppers struck for the game's only goal in the 62nd minute of action as midfielder Vanessa Lawson broke down the left side. Lawson put a through ball into the box that found an on charging Kalyn O'Shea who deposited it in the back of the net past a diving Kelly Goodman to give WKU a 1-0 lead.
The Lady Indians had their best chances of the second half to tie the game in a four minute stretch. In the 74th minute of action, junior forward MaryJo Rana put a cross into the box that senior Stephanie Ray was able to corral. Ray struck the one-time volley on goal only to be denied by WKU goalkeeper Nikki Ryan.
The Tribe almost tied the game again in the 77th minute when junior midfielder Melanie Thiele pounced on a loose ball about 25 yards out and cracked a shot over the hands of a diving Ryan. The ball struck the cross bar and fell behind the net to stave off the ASU attack.
Goodman finished the game with two saves in 90 minutes of action as she was making her second straight start of the year. WKU split time in net between two goalkeepers at Meredith Goodson started and made two saves in the first half and Ryan came on and picked up two saves in the second half.
The Lady Indians played under the tutelage of Williams as they were without the services of head coach Jason Wharton who had to sit out the game due to a red card sustained last Sunday.
The Lady Indians will be back in action in their Sun Belt Conference regular season finale on Sunday afternoon as they host Middle Tennessee at 1 p.m. at Indian Soccer Park. The game will mark the final home game for five Tribe players including Shawna Sparks, Sarah Palke, Stephanie Ray, Alexia Isenberg and Ina Neiser.
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