KSU’s women’s soccer team fell to the South Florida Bulls on Sunday at the College of Charleston Classic in Charles- ton, S.C., snapping a two- game winning streak that included a historic 1-0 victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks on Sep. 2.
South Florida’s freshman midfielder Jackie Simpson put the game out of reach in the 79th minute of play, taking an assist from Sarah Miller for her first career goal. The Owls were out-shot 13-4 in the contest.
“I thought we worked very hard, but we were not at our best today,” KSU head coach Rob King said. “I said to the team afterward that we had four or five players playing about as well as they could play and then we had five or six oth- ers that were just not as good as their usual performances.”
The Bulls (4-3) were coming off hard fought matches that included wins against Miami (FL) and Indiana. South Florida’s Demi Stokes opened the scor-
th ing against the Owls in the 26
minute of play with an unas- sisted goal.
“To play and win against a team like that we’ve got to have more of (our players) at the top of their games,” King said. “We weren’t just quite there today.”
South Florida showed off some serious depth, playing 20 players, opposed to KSU’s 15. The Bulls kept pressure on the Owls throughout the contest, holding the Black and Gold to just four shots (two on goal).
Melissa Hutto, the Owls’ experienced senior goalkeeper, played the entire contest, regis- tering five saves, including four in the first-half.
The contest was physical. South Florida committed 10 fouls, while KSU committed just four.
KSU’s loss was a sour end- ing to its trip to Charleston.
On Friday, the Black and Gold defeated Eastern Kentucky to the tune of 3-0. The highlight of the contest was junior Kelsey Barr’s two goals—a rare feat for a defensive player.
“Kelsey’s first header was very good off of a good service and her second header was a terrific goal,” King said about his junior midfielder.
Frost opened the scoring against the Colonels (3-3-1) with an unassisted goal in the 7th minute of play. It was Frost’s third goal of the year and the 14th of her young career. KSU was out-shot against Eastern Kentucky, 13-7, yet managed to finish with a shutout thanks to another great performance from Hutto.
“It was a good performance and a clean sheet for Mel,” King said of Hutto.
“We defended well when we needed to,” King said. “We didn’t
Photo by Matt Boggs
really allow them any good chances and then we took our chances very well.”
The Owls will return to action Friday against the Samford Bulldogs (3-3) in Birmingham, Al. KSU has not played a home game since a 2-0 loss to the Tennessee Volunteers on Aug. 31. The Owls are just 1-3 at Ken- nesaw Stadium in non-confer- ence play this season. Despite
a tough stretch, games against Alabama, Georgia State and Tennessee have drawn record crowds.
KSU’s next home match will be its final non-conference game of the year when the Owls take on UT-Martin Sunday, Sep. 16th, at 1 p.m.
KSU has just two more warm- ups before starting conference play against arch-rival Mercer in Kennesaw on Sep. 22.
