#18 Anabel Orozco kicks a penalty kick through the net. Walens Family Field at Fifth Third Stadium, Oct. 1, 2026. Photo by Emma Neal
Kennesaw State soccer struggled to defend Delaware’s attack as the Owls were defeated 5-1 at Walens Family Field at Fifth Third Stadium on Sunday.
Both teams came into the game with an undefeated record of 2-0 in CUSA, but the Blue Hens were able to remain undefeated in Conference USA.
UD opened the scoring in the 13th minute as a corner kick resulted in an own goal for KSU. Maggie Holloway doubled the score for the Blue Hens in the 29th minute to put the lead to 2-0 at the end of the half.
UD kept the attack on the Owls after scoring an early second-half goal from Adiat Olaogun-Dickson in the 49th minute.
KSU responded with its first and only goal coming by way of a converted penalty kick in the 66th minute by Ava Bradford to make the score 3-1.
The Blue Hens quickly regained control of the game, with Taisiya Reid scoring nearly four minutes after the Owls’ goal. Reid added her second and final goal in the last minute of the game.
Even though KSU allowed five goals, goalkeeper Charlee Bernal recorded an amazing nine saves for the Owls. UD did not record a save as the Owls only managed to have one shot on goal.
Throughout the entire match, the Blue Hens controlled possession, holding 66% of possession and outshooting KSU 17-3. The Owls committed 11 fouls throughout the match compared to UD’s three.
KSU’s loss comes only three days after its 1-0 win over New Mexico State on Thursday. Anabel Orozco, who did not play against UD, scored the only goal of the match in the 1-0 victory over the Aggies on a penalty kick for the Owls.
KSU coach Chris Cahill hopes to bounce back in its next game against Jax State.
“Credit to Delaware, they’re a good team,” Cahill said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t perform very well as a group today and they took advantage of it. We hope to get healthy, regroup, and get back to work later this week to get prepared for another tough conference game at Jax State.”
With this loss, the Owls fall to 5-5-3 overall and its undefeated streak snapped in CUSA play 2-1-0. Delaware improves to 8-2-3 overall and an undefeated record of 3-0-0 in conference play.
KSU will return to action on Saturday at 6 p.m., traveling to Jacksonville State in a CUSA rivalry matchup.
