BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Baldwin Wallace women's soccer team fell to non-conference opponent Trine (Ind.) University by a final score of 4-0 to wrap up their two games in this weekend's Bengals Classic, hosted by Buffalo State University.
BW (3-2) lost their first ever matchup against Trine (2-1-1), as the two squads had never competed against one another in their respective programs' histories.
The first half presented problems for the Yellow Jackets as they failed to generate sufficient scoring opportunities. Trine was able to control the pace of the game and apply loads of pressure from the start. In the 18th minute, the Thunder struck first off a free kick from nearly half-field that was deflected in by a header from junior Courtney Reece. BW senior goalkeeper Sophia Weidner (Medina) kept her counterparts from breaking the game wide open as she made several sprawling saves to retain a reachable one-goal deficit.
The second half began with a terrific chance to shift the momentum towards BW. Junior midfielder Kayla Webb (Brunswick) intercepted a pass, then received a feed from teammate Alex Guido (Macomb, Mich./Eisenhower) for a partial breakaway but she could muster enough power on the shot to get it past the keeper. The Yellow Jackets missed their opportunity to even the score and the Thunder took full advantage of their misfortune. Trine stormed back less than a minute later and scored on the very next play to go up 2-0. The Thunder continued their barrage of shots for the rest of the period as they eventually ran the score up to a respectable lead. Thunder senior Madison Sanderson had an second frame as she scored a hat-trick in nearly 18 minutes to put her team up 4-0 by the 69th minute. The lead proved to be too large for BW to overcome
Despite the one-sided result, Weidner played well, making several key saves that could have possibly inflated the score furthermore. She made eight saves on twelve shots in her second start of the season, as her record fell to 0-2.
The Yellow Jackets are back on the pitch Tuesday when they take non-conference opponent Oberlin College at 7:00 p.m. in Oberlin.
