Badgers women’s soccer lose heartbreaker after second half collapse.
A poor second half for the Badgers negated a strong first half, as Brock fell 5-2 to the Laurier Golden Hawks at home.
The Badgers came into the matchup eager to secure their first win of the season and were on the right track to accomplishing that from the onset of the match.
Forward Jenna Parris, the Badgers’ Female Athlete of the Week, got Brock on the board early in the sixth minute, as she buried her second goal of the season from Irelan Scanlon’s sweet assist.
That goal inspired confidence within the Badgers’ team and the hundreds of fans watching at Alumni Field.
Moments later, Brock nearly doubled their early lead as Scanlon almost added a goal of her own, but Laurier keeper Bronya Obelnicki made one of her five first half saves to keep the game within reach for the Golden Hawks.
Obelnicki’s key saves were the spark that ignited the menacing Laurier offence.
In the 27th minute, the visitors got on the board through a defensive miscue by the Badgers. Laurier defender Stephanie Geady threw the ball in from the right touchline towards the Brock backline. A poor aerial clearance by the Badger defender gifted the ball onto the left foot of Jyanessa Sealy who sent a rocket past Brock keeper Emma Hendrie from approximately 25 yards out, tying the game at one.
However, the Badgers didn’t let the defensive lull ruin their spirits, as they were anxious for another to retake the lead.
Minutes after the Sealy goal, a deep free kick by Brianna Bishop floated into the box which found the feet of Kate Halley after it ricocheted off a couple of Golden Hawk defenders. The rookie nearly scored her first career OUA goal against her hometown team, but Obelnicki came up clutch again.
The game remained level at halftime, but momentum swung drastically in the second half against the Badgers.
Laurier came out of halftime looking like a totally different team than the one that competed in the opening 45 minutes. They were faster, stronger on the ball, dominated possession and most importantly, generated high quality scoring chances of their own; something which they lacked in the first half.
As such, it didn’t take long for the Golden Hawks to add to their tally in the second half.
Seven minutes into the half, Sophia Messina scored what appeared to be a replication of the first goal by Laurier. A poor clearance by Brock from a throw-in found the feet of Messina, who had tons of time and space to snipe her first goal of the season past a diving Hendrie.
Unfortunately for the Badgers, things would only get worse.
In the 73rd minute, Sealy scored her second goal of the game from the corner kick, which was quickly followed by an unmarked Mackenzie Forte adding a fourth Laurier goal, extending their lead to 4-1.
The two goals attributed to the issues that the Badgers defenders had been experiencing all game: too much time and space for the attackers, and the inability to defend from set pieces and dead ball possessions.
Brock responded with a set piece goal of their own, though. In the final minute of the 90, Cerrina Toromoreno’s delivery found a wide-open Makenna Williamson on the weak side to give the Badgers a slimmer of hope.
But the hope only lasted seconds.
In second half stoppage time, on a play that everyone, including both teams’ thought was offside, Sasha Marikano scored a fifth Golden Hawks goal to seal the 5-2 road victory, giving the Badgers their first defeat of the season.
Next up for the Badgers is a home game at Alumni Field next Saturday, Sept. 23rd at 1 p.m against Guelph. More information regarding the Brock Badgers women’s soccer team can be found here.