TOLEDO, OH - Toledo surrendered two second half goals en route to a 2-0 setback against Wright State on Thursday at Scott Park. With the loss, the Rockets fall to 2-2-1 on the season.
UT finished the non-league match with a slight 14-13 edge in shots, but the three-time defending Mid-American Conference champions did not possess many good scoring opportunities and were blanked for the second time this season.
"We're struggling to find ourselves right now," said Toledo Head Coach Brad Evans, whose squad was last shutout at home on Sept. 2, 2005 against Detroit (L, 1-0). "As coaches, we're going to have to get back to the basics and figure out what is going to help us bridge the gap between what we have and what we are missing. We have to dig deep and find a way to plow through it."
On the flipside, the opportunistic Raiders (2-3-1) played one of the best matches of the young season and had the first quality scoring chance on a shot by Jen Agueci at 8:10. The WSU forward found a small seam in the UT defense about 10-yards out and fired a shot that just sailed wide of the target.
For the next 30-plus minutes, neither team mustered much of an attack. It was not until the 41:36 mark that the visitors had another opportunity to break the scoreless tie on another shot by Agueci. She made a long run down the right side and beat a pair of UT defenders before being one-on-one with the Rockets' sophomore netminder Vicki Traven. Fortunately for the home team, Traven cut down Agueci's angle to the goal and made a nice save on a hard, low shot by the WSU attacker.
Moments later, the Rockets had their best chance to score in the opening period off the head of sophomore Kristen Lynn. The forward received a nice cross and flicked it over head of the WSU goalie, Meghan Hackerson, who had come off her line, but a Raiders' defender quickly recovered and cleared it out of danger at 42:51, keeping the match tied 0-0 at the intermission.
To start the second stanza, Wright State came within inches of breaking the tie on a hard left-footed shot by Brittany Persaud, but UT junior netminder Angela Righeimer came out of nowhere to make a diving save at 54:35.
WSU continued to push the action as the second half rolled on and a shot by I'esha King at 63:59 looked like it was headed for the back of the net. Much to the dismay of King and the Raiders, the Rockets' Righeimer came up huge once again and another diving save kept the visitors off the scoreboard.
The Raiders' offense would not be denied though and a perfectly-executed free kick off the foot of Sara Palermo found the net at 71:20 for the eventual match winner. With the ball about 25-yards out, Palermo struck the ball solid and placed it into the upper left corner on the goal, a shot that is almost unstoppable.
Facing an extremely rare home deficit, Toledo started to turn up the pressure and had a nice chance to tally the equalizer on a shot by Leak at 74:50. Leak made a nice run down the right side and launched a high shot that WSU's Hackerson stopped.
Wright State then wrapped up the scoring and doubled its lead on a tally by Katie Broerman at 84:50. Following a UT defensive lapse, WSU's Amber Kasmer made a long run down the left side and was one-on-one with Righeimer. Kasmer beat the goalie and fired a shot that hit the post and caromed right to Broerman, who trailed on the play and followed it up with a shot that ended up in the back of the net to make the final score 2-0.
Senior Molly Cornwell, junior Brittany Hensler and Leak each paced the Rockets with three shots, while Brittany Persaud also had three to lead the Raiders.
"We didn't play our best soccer today, so we have to learn from this so it doesn't happen again," Leak said. "We're not going to dwell on this loss because we can't live in the past. We're going to move forward and try our best to get a win in our next match."
UT's Righeimer allowed both goals and was credited with the loss, while WSU's Hackerson went for the full 90 minutes between the posts to earn the complete-match shutout.
The Rockets return to action on Sunday, Sept. 13 when they host St. Bonaventure at 1:00 p.m.
Wright State 2, TOLEDO 0
WSU: S. Palermo (Unassisted), 71:20
WSU: K. Broerman (Unassisted), 84:50
SHOTS: UT 14, WSU 13
CORNER KICKS: UT 3, WSU 4
SAVES: UT 8, WSU 4
FOULS: UT 9, WSU 5
