ORANGE CITY, Iowa -- The Northwestern College women's soccer team (3-5, 0-2 GPAC) was unable to muster any goals in their return to the home pitch, falling to the Briar Cliff (5-1, 3-0 GPAC) Chargers 2-0 at the NWC Soccer Complex Saturday evening.
The Chargers came out of the gate quickly against the Raiders and were able to posses the ball and create early chances. In the 27th minute a foul in the box allowed Sonja Rao to net a penalty kick to put the Chargers up 1-0. The rest of the first half saw a Raiders offense that could not quite find their rhythm. The Chargers continued to stay on the attack and created 12 shot attempts compared to the none for the Raiders. Junior goalkeeper
Kaelin Alons (Jr., Orange City, Iowa/Unity Christian) was busy in the net and finished the half with nine saves to keep the score at 1-0 at the break.
The Chargers came out aggressively in the second half and found the back of the net again in the 48th minute. Hannah Shuttleworth finished off an assist from Gemma White with a header into the bottom right corner. The Raiders continued to try and create chances for an offensive attack but the pieces would not align. Much of the second half did not see much action in the attacking thirds of the field until an 87th minute goal by Taylor Alkire put Briar Cliff ahead 3-0 and that score would hold as the final.
The Chargers out shot the Raiders 23-1 for the game and created eight corner kick opportunities. Alons was able to make 15 saves on the night and her record in the net is now 3-5 reflecting the team's record as well.
There were a few bright spots for the Raiders as
Emily Hurley (Sr., Pleasant Hill, Iowa/Grand View Christian) played in her second consecutive game as she looks to return to form after being sidelined with an injury to start the season. Hurley was the team's leading goal scorer a season ago.
Keslie Paul (Jr., Frisco, Texas/Reedy) also saw a lot of action as she returns to form after being out of the lineup since late August.
Up Next: The Raiders return to their home pitch Wednesday, Sept. 22 for another conference match against Morningside with kickoff set for 5 p.m.
