The Owls looked to reverse fortunes against the Lions with an offensive-heavy battle from both sides down to the final minute.
A hard-fought battle proved not enough momentum for the Owls as they fell 0-2 against the North Alabama Lions on Thursday, Sept. 14.
“We’re seeing glimpses of things and want to keep putting the pieces together,” Head Coach Benji Walton said in a previous interview.
The Owls (1-3-3) entered play Thursday on the heels of a tough 0-3 loss against Samford University, eager to flip the script and capture their first win since August 20 against Presbyterian. The assignment for Thursday night was to silence the surging Lions (4-2-2) in the introduction to Atlantic Sun Conference play.
After 10 minutes into the game, sophomore Mai Jensen got a look at the net with a shot on goal, only to be saved by North Alabama Goalie Adriana Wright.
Wasting almost no time following a Lions corner, North Alabama freshman Giada Aldini saw a golden opportunity from the right side of the box, which ended up being foiled by a solid save from sophomore Goalie Allanah Blye towards the 15-minute mark.
A hopeful cross by sophomore Brenna Young ignited a glimmer of hope for the Owls only to see it intercepted by the Lions. This caused an unassisted goal from Lions’ Forward Alice Bussey just before the clock showed 20 minutes remaining in the half.
A free kick for KSU with 10 minutes left in the first half stood as another sign of life, only for the ball to sail just left of the goal.
With less than two minutes remaining in the half, a strong opportunity by junior Alana Watts proved positive for the Lions but came inches from a goal before soaring off the crossbar.
As halftime approached and both sides absconded to the locker room the score stood at 1-0 in favor of the Lions.
The second half began with North Alabama strong on the attack, quickly seeing a shot by graduate student Goose Andrews that sailed just out of range, followed closely by a long ball into the stands by Forward Haley Patterson.
Signs of life started pointing toward the Owls, 10 minutes into the second half, with a chance by Macie Rainwater abruptly knocked out by Wright. This resulted in a corner that led to another move at the net, sailing just right of the goal off the foot of Midfielder Anabel Orozco.
With 26 minutes remaining in the second half, a header from Defender Julia Murdoch off an assist by Giada Aldini tipped the score even further in favor of the Lions, seeing the score sit at 0-2.
Action calmed down for the remainder of the second half, emulating the back-and-forth nature that dominated the 45 minutes preceding it, seeing a handful of shots and corners laden about from both sides before the clock hit zero and the 0-2 score became final.
With Thursday evening’s loss, the Owls fall to 1-4-3 on the season, while the Lions improve to 5-2-2.
In the ASUN pre-season poll, KSU was expected to finish in fourth place while North Alabama was expected to finish in last place. This game has flipped the script for the season, but only time will tell if the Owls make a comeback in conference play.
