The Brock Badgers women’s soccer team finished the weekend with a loss and a draw against the Western Mustangs, the fourth-ranked team in the country, to start the season 0-3-1.
Game 1: Brock 0, Western 2
In Friday’s opener at Brock’s Alumni Field, the Badgers had their share of chances but ultimately fell short after two second half goals sealed the 2-0 win for the Mustangs.
Stefanie Young, Badgers’ rookie forward, ignited the Brock attack with two shots on target within the game’s first 12 minutes, forcing a pair of key stops by Mustangs’ keeper Sam St. Croix to deny the home side from opening the scoring.
St. Croix was called upon twice more in the first half, rejecting Irelan Scanlon and Jenna Parris, as the Mustangs keeper had four of her seven saves in the opening half. Her goalkeeping counterpart, Brock’s Shae Mitchell, was also busy in the first half, picking up three critical saves to keep the match scoreless entering halftime.
In the second half, the teams traded back-and-forth chances until Western’s 56th-minute substitute, Tessa Dubeis-Phillip, broke the deadlock in the 71st minute for her first goal of the 2024 season.
Six minutes later, the Mustangs doubled their lead as Avarie Thomas converted from the penalty spot to seal the 2-0 Western victory.
The loss didn’t come without opportunity as the Badgers finished the match with 12 shots, five of which were courtesy of Young and four from Sabrina Bisante — the Badgers’ Female Athlete of the Week for the week ending Sept. 1 — as they continue to look for an offensive breakthrough this season.
Game 2: Western 0, Brock 0
Sunday’s matchup ended scoreless at Western’s Alumni Stadium in London, resulting in the Badgers earning their first point of the season.
However, the draw didn’t come without a sound defensive effort, including a stellar performance by Mitchell in between the posts to pick up the first clean sheet of her OUA career.
Mitchell was called upon from the opening kickoff, defending against a pair of Mustang shots in the opening 30 seconds of the match, as the Western side was beaming with confidence seeking their fourth consecutive victory to start the new season.
Moments later, the second-year goalkeeper denied Western’s Gabby Kohut and Mackenzie Bilotta as the Guelph-native made five critical stops in the opening 15 minutes of the match, facing 10 shots in the first half.
The offensive dominance continued in the second half with the Mustangs earning a corner within the opening minute and forcing another decisive save by Mitchell to keep the match level.
A trio of second half substitutions for the Badgers wasn’t enough to solve Western’s superior backline as Brock remained volatile for much of the match.
The Mustangs finished the game with 16 shots compared to Brock’s five and nine corners versus the Badgers’ two. Mitchell came up with eight quality saves, her second-most in a game this season after earning nine stops on Aug. 30 in a 2-1 defeat against Laurier, keeping the game 0-0 until the final whistle.
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Next up for the Badgers, who are in dire search of their offence having only scored twice in four matches this season, host the Algoma Thunderbirds next weekend, a team that they beat 2-1 and 9-0 last season — the most goals they’ve scored in a game since beating Algoma 9-1 in 2015. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sept. 15.
For more information about the Badgers women’s soccer team, head to gobadgers.ca.