CLEVELAND, Ohio — A pair of first half goals derailed the nine-time Northwest Conference Champion Pacific Lutheran University women's soccer squad's hopes of an upset on Friday afternoon, falling 5-1 to 11
th-ranked Case Western Reserve University on the road at DiSanto Field.
"I knew it'd be a tough opponent for sure, we scheduled it to be that way. Would rather have struggled with adversity right away and learn and grow, rather than have false confidence and think we're where we're not," said Head Coach
Seth Spidahl.
"There's always bright spots.
Marie Piho was a bright spot today and had a good performance.
Kyleigh Archer got her first goal and we learned a lot about our team and you're always going to learn more through struggle. I didn't think it would go 5-1 today but Case Western is a long ways ahead of us right now and that's fine.
We've got to stay humble and keep our confidence up. It's just a soccer game. We know it's all about how we do in our conference and that's what these games are for. We can't get caught up in outcomes and let that affect our willingness to train and learn."
Kyleigh Archer tallied the Lutes' (0-1) lone goal of the game, breaking through in the 55
th minute off a pass from fellow senior
Jaden Saucelo, cutting the deficit to a pair of goals.
The host Spartans (2-0) came out of the gate strong, scoring in the 13
th and 18
th minutes to enjoy a 2-0 halftime lead. CWRU scored just under seven minutes into the second half before the Archer goal in the 55
thminute.
Case Western quickly responded to the Lute goal, scoring just over a minute later before adding an insurance goal in the 68
th.
PLU finished with six shots including three on frame. In addition to Archer's goal, the Lutes had shots on target from
Megan Sloane and
Tia Schwetz who both came off the bench.
Mia Speir played all 90 minutes in goal, making three saves. CWRU's Ellie Palaian earned the win, making one save in 67 minutes of work. Madeline Mescher closed things out, making one save as well.
"I'm confident the group will grow from it and the good thing is we have a game tomorrow so we don't have a lot of time to dwell on this as we have to get ready for our next opponent."
The Lutes finish off their Ohio trip on Saturday with a night game against Baldwin Wallace University. Kickoff in Berea is set for 7 p.m. (Eastern).
