The Lady Cougars (2-3, 1-1 AMC) controlled most of the action in the match, but unfortunately for MVNU all it took was one shot for the visiting Arrows (6-0, 1-0 AMC) to come away with the victory.

Early on in the match, the Lady Cougars kept most of the action on the Ursuline side of the field as MVNU held a 7-3 advantage in total shots. However, in the 27th minute, Jaimie Grindle ripped a shot from outside the left corner of the penalty area that skipped between the legs of junior goalkeeper Jenessa Loewen and into the back of the net to give the Arrows the lead on their first shot of the match.

That would prove to be the only goal in the match despite several great scoring chances for the Lady Cougars, who held a 14-5 advantage in total shots and a 7-3 edge in shots on goal. MVNU continued to press forward right until the end as the Lady Cougars finished with a 7-2 lead in corner kicks including three in the final three minutes of the match. Loewen finished with two saves for MVNU, while Rachel Smith stopped seven shots to post the shutout for Ursuline.

“Our team gave it all they had today and laid it all on the field today,” said MVNU coach Daniel Seiffert. “I felt like we outplayed (Ursuline) and we outshot them and had quite a few opportunities, but we just could not find the back of the net. We had a phenomenal performance from our back line. I was very pleased with Angie (Misamore), Kelci (Rhodes), Mara (Hughes), and Denče (Stentz) - they did an incredible job to limit (Ursuline).”

“We had quite a few opportunities and quite a few corner kicks,” Seiffert continued. “I was pleased with our attacking line and our build-up. Jessica (Linger) had another great game as a freshman and Haley (Sparks) gave us a good game off the bench. I’m impressed with the freshmen showing they want to come in and compete. Our midfield also did a solid job with Erin (Miller) (above) going all 90 minutes and Courtney (Ricker) doing well also.”

MVNU will return to action on Saturday when the Lady Cougars will host Carlow (Pa.) University at noon in another AMC match.

“We are not going to hang our heads over this outcome,” said Seiffert. “We are working to continue to get better every time we step on the training field and the game field. We’ll work hard and look forward to playing against Carlow on Saturday.”