Eastern Michigan (4-6-1, 2-1 MAC) tromped the UB women's soccer team 3-0 at Scicluna Field in Ypsilanti, Michigan this past Friday. The loss dropped the Bulls to 3-6-1 overall with a 1-2 record in the Mid-American Conference.
Eastern Michigan won the game with a brilliant performance from senior Michelle Lawrence who compiled three goals for the Eagles. Lawrence now leads the Eagles with five goals and 11 points on the year.
The Eagles got off to a quick start as Lawrence notched her first goal at the 6:35 mark. EMU was able to force six corner kicks as they out-shot UB by a 7-3 margin, taking a 1-0 lead at the half.
The Bulls went into halftime needing to make adjustments.
"We had a task that we were going in with," said head coach Jean A. Tassy. "But, we had a lack of mental tenacity and focus and we tried to solve that at half-time."
The Bulls came out of the half a stronger and more aggressive team, tightened up on defense. They were able to out-shoot Eastern Michigan 5-4 and hold them to only two corner kicks in the second half.
Despite UB's defensive effort, Lawrence ruffled the net two more times, first at the 63:55 mark and then less than five minutes later at the 68:35 mark, to complete her hat trick.
Eastern Michigan cruised from there with a three-goal lead, and was victorious over UB for the second straight season.
After a disappointing loss, Tassy said that the Bulls could only blame themselves for coming up short, sighting their lack of consistency.
"Two of the goals were on our own inefficiency," Tassy said. "We knew what we needed to do and we prepared. Our starters did not show up."
Tassy also made it evident that the team's lack of experience played a factor in Friday's game.
"Being such a young team, a major bulk of our roster is freshmen and sophomores," Tassy said. "Today was a learning experience. We need to learn from these experiences."
The Bulls' inconsistency has been prevalent all season.
"Our non-conference matches don't even come close to our conference matches. We have played better teams in non-conference play," Tassy said. "The maturity becomes clear."
The Bulls have had more success when playing some better teams. They won against Army, tied Jacksonville and knocked off a formidable opponent in the regionally ranked Ball State 1-0 last week in conference play.
Although they couldn't come home with the win, the Bulls did have some bright spots on Friday.
Sophomore Kelley Vander Mallie played strong and led the Bulls with four shots. Freshman Brooke McCalla and senior Natalia Crofut each were noted by Tassy for their sustained hustle in the 3-0 loss.
Senior goalkeeper Anna-Lesa Calvert had three saves in the game. Friday's performance brings the keeper within four saves of becoming only the third goaltender in conference history to earn 300 career saves.
The Bulls hope to gather their senses and focus on their upcoming games as they head into the thick of the MAC portion of their schedule. They have upcoming games against Central Michigan and Western Michigan, the top two teams in the MAC, both of whom are undefeated in conference play. The Bulls beat Central Michigan last year 3-0 and tied 2003 MAC champs Western Michigan 2-2 in the 2004 campaign.
The Bulls' game against Western Michigan will be part of Homecoming Weekend as they face the Broncos at 4 p.m. on Friday.
Photo: Courtesy of SUNY
