Two second-half goals from Jacksonville ended KSU’s 2013 season in disappointing fashion in the Atlantic Sun semifinals on Friday afternoon at the FGCU Soccer Complex.
As the Owls found out, it is typically hard to beat a team twice in a year, especially when the opponent is coming off a first-round bye, as the Dolphins were. Jacksonville’s No. 2 seed afforded it the luxury of having the previous weekend off, while the Owls labored to a 1-0 victory against Lipscomb.
Jacksonville forward Kaitlyn Basset’s perfectly weighted through ball between the KSU center backs allowed Marie Weckhurst to open the scoring in the 66th minute. Her sliding finish past Owls goalkeeper Olivia Sturdivant gave the Dolphins a lead that KSU head coach Rob King rightfully expected would be decisive.
“The team that scored first was likely going to it win and we pushed to try and get one after their goal,” King said to KSUOwls.com after the match.
That effort would prove to be unsuccessful, as Jacksonville’s Joy Grove extended the Dolphins’ lead in the 77th minute with a curling finish from about 19 yards out, deflating the trailing Owls. Only one of KSU’s 14 shots would come after Grove doubled the lead.
“Sarah [Sierra] and the defensive group did a great job of keeping them off the board,” Brian Copham, Jacksonville’s head coach, told JUDolphins. com. “They have some dangerous attacking players that they dealt with very well.”
The veteran focal point of said KSU attack, Katrina Frost, led the Owls in shots but was unable to get one on frame in her last match with the team.
Her freshman protégés, Maggie Gaughan and Shannon Driscoll, only managed a combined one shot on goal, but certainly have the athletic potential to take control of the attack in the years to come.
“We are disappointed but pleased with the growth this year,” King said. “Our seniors have set the course for our young squad and expectations are high as we move forward.”
It was a young team, indeed, and only three seniors—Frost, Kelsey Barr, and Tasia Williams— depart from a team that will be hungry to build upon this season’s success. KSU will return nine starters next season, which will give the team much-needed experience in a league it is not far from winning.
Hosts FGCU also won 2-0 over Mercer in the later Friday game, before they, too, fell victim to Jacksonville. The Dolphins earned their third A-Sun championship on Sunday, perhaps giving a silver lining to the Owls: they might have lost, but at least it was to the eventual champions.
