Final Stats
TOLEDO, OH - The Toledo women's soccer team saw its bid for a berth in this year's MAC Tournament suffer another damaging blow Sunday afternoon dropping a 2-0 decision to Western Michigan in Mid-American Conference action at Scott Park.
With the loss, the Rockets fall to 5-9-0, 3-6-0 in the MAC, while the win improves the Broncos to 6-7-1, 5-4-0 in the league.
"We gave a much better effort today than we did on Friday against Northern Illinois," Toledo Head Coach Brad Evans said. "I'm proud that our kids stood tall in the face of some more adversity. Today, though, we missed our chances and that is what this game boiled down to. We had opportunities and didn't take advantage. We created some good scoring opportunities but just didn't finish."
Western Michigan opened the scoring off a free kick by Megan Urbats at 27:29. Shantal Robinson was credited with the assist. With the ball about 20 yards out from the Toledo goal, Robinson played the ball into the UT penalty and Urbats flicked it past a stunned Toledo goalkeeper Molly Patterson for the eventual game winner.
The Broncos increased their lead to 2-0 at 74:50 on almost the exact same play, this time by Katie Ruzinsky, with Robinson again credited with the assist. Off a free kick, Robinson played a low ball into the UT penalty box. A WMU player let the ball go between her legs as a decoy and right to Ruzinsky, who fired it into the back of the net to close out the scoring.
Toledo, which has now dropped four matches in a row, missed a golden opportunity in the 36th minute when sophomore Brittany Lawrence missed a penalty kick. Lawrence attempted to place the ball in the upper-right corner of the goal, but the ball sailed high and over the cross bar. The play was setup on a foul by WMU goalkeeper Kate Perz on UT senior Melissa Lesage in the penalty box. Perz tackled Lesage in the box after the Trois Rivieres, PQ native had beat a pair of WMU defenders to set up the play.
In the opening minutes of the second half, Toledo again had a good scoring chance after Lesage had beaten her defender and was one-on-one with Perz. Unfortunately for the Rockets, Perz did a good job of cutting down the angle and made Lesage shoot high over the goal.
The Rockets were also dealt a major blow when sophomore goalkeeper Molly Patterson was lost for the game with an elbow injury with 23:28 remaining in regulation. Patterson was going for a ball in the penalty box and collided with WMU's Jessica Pattison sending her down to the ground. Lawrence, the starting left fullback for Toledo, was pressed into action as goalkeeper, as UT's second goalkeeper Jen Whipple was lost for the season on Tuesday after suffering a knee injury while practicing.
"Injuries happen.They are part of the game," Evans said. "And as a coach, I will not blame a loss on injuries."
The Rockets registered 10 shots on the afternoon, seven of which came in the second half. Western Michigan finished the day with eight total shots, five of which came in the second stanza. UT also recorded a 6-4 advantage in corner kicks for the match. WMU's Perz recorded five saves en route to her fourth shutout of the season.
Toledo returns to action next weekend hosting Youngstown State in non-conference action on Friday, Oct. 17. Game time is slated for 4:00 p.m.
Western Michigan 2, TOLEDO 0
WMU: M. Urbats (S. Robinson), 27:29
WMU: K. Ruzinsky (S. Robinson), 74:50
Shots: UT 10, WMU 8
Saves: UT 2, WMU 5
Corner Kicks: UT 6, WMU 4
Fouls: UT 11, WMU 16
