MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Toledo sustained a disappointing 3-2 loss to Belmont on Sunday at the Gopher Tournament at Elizabeth Lyle Robbie Stadium. With the setback, the Rockets fall to 0-2-0 on the season.
UT received markers from freshman Brooke Maletic and senior Rachel MacLeod against the Bruins (1-1-0), but it was not enough as the Midnight Blue & Gold was dealt its second straight one-goal loss to start the regular season. The four-time Mid-American Conference Tournament champions dropped a 2-1 decision to host Minnesota on Friday in the opener.
"Today was disappointing on many levels,” Toledo Head Coach Brad Evans said. “Belmont did a good job exploiting our lack of preparation and that is on me and my coaching. We generated enough good chances to even the match but we dug ourselves too big a hole to climb out of."
Belmont's Katie Proud opened the action packed first half with an unassisted goal at 12:29.
The Rockets retaliated when freshman Brooke Maletic found the back of the net for the first time as a collegiate at 20:42. Another prolific first-year scorer on UT's roster, Maletic totaled 84 goals and 36 assists (204 points) at Springfield Catholic Central High School, including a school-record 36 markers and 15 helpers (87 points) as a senior.
Maletic's tally set off an offensive explosion as the final three goals were registered over the ensuing eight minutes. Unfortunately for the Rockets, two of the markers were tallied by Belmont to keep the Midnight Blue & Gold winless after the first weekend of the regular season.
BU built a lead it would not surrender on back-to-back goals from Allie Hicks and Meg Howard to take a 3-1 advantage at 26:31 and 28:12, respectively.
However, Toledo cut the Bruins' margin in half exactly 30 seconds later when senior Rachel MacLeod scored her first goal of the season at 28:42. With today's marker, MacLeod moved into a three-way tie for fifth place in UT annals with 22 career goals.
In the second half, UT managed to outshoot BU, 6-4, but could not find an equalizer and as a result was saddled with a 3-2 setback.
The Bruins finished the non-league encounter with a 15-9 edge in shots over the Rockets. MacLeod paced Toledo with three shots, followed by sophomores Geri Siudzinski and Kika Hernandez with two shots each, while Proud led Belmont with three shots.
Senior Kelsey Borowitz drew the start in between the posts and played all 90 minutes, finishing with a career-high seven saves.
"We still have a lot of work to do,” MacLeod said. “It was good to see two freshmen score over the weekend, but we missed a lot of opportunities offensively. We also conceded some easy goals. There were a lot of positives and negatives on the weekend, but now we just look to this week of practice going into next weekend and go forward."
The Rockets will return to the pitch on Friday, Aug. 30 when they travel to Horizon League member Youngstown State, before entertaining Southeastern Conference participant Kentucky on Sunday, Sept. 1 in their home opener. UT's match against the Penguins will start at 4:00 p.m. at Farmers National Bank Field, while the home opener versus the Wildcats will kick off at 1:00 p.m. at Scott Park.
Belmont 3, TOLEDO 2
BU: K. Proud (Unassisted), 12:29
UT: B. Maletic (Unassisted), 20:42
BU: A. Hicks (Unassisted), 26:31
BU: M. Howard (Unassisted), 28:12
UT: R. MacLeod (Unassisted), 28:42
SHOTS: UT 9, BU 15
CORNER KICKS: UT 4, BU 2
SAVES: UT 7, BU 3
