WICHITA, Kan. (Sept. 15, 2012) – Oklahoma Christian's offensive struggles continued Saturday as the Lady Eagles managed only three shots while falling 2-0 at Newman (Kan.) at Wilkins Field.
OC (1-2) was coming off a 4-0 loss at Southwestern Oklahoma State, during which the Lady Eagles were outshot 18-4. Things didn't change much during their first Heartland Conference game, as OC spent much of the game in their own half of the field.
The Lady Eagles did fare better in the second half, controlling some of the midfield action, but never had a serious scoring threat. Of their three shots, only one – by Addie Ryan – was on goal.
"The biggest problem was losing the midfield battle in the first half, when we were five-versus-five, and winning it in the second half, when we were down three-versus-five," OC coach Randall Robison said. "It just comes down to effort. We didn't display toughness in the first half and in a lot of the second half, but I thought we were better in the second half."
Newman (2-3) recorded 11 shots and took advantage of two defensive errors to score its goals. In the ninth minute, OC goalkeeper Lindsey Williams came out to challenge Newman's Blair Terry for the ball, trying to head it out of danger. But that didn't work and Terry instead was left with an open net into which to shoot.
The Jets made it 2-0 in the 24th minute. An unmarked Harriet Jakeman sent an easy crossing pass to Tori Hostick, whose shot banged off the left post and into the net.
OC changed goalkeepers at halftime, with Anna Walker receiving her first playing time of the season. Both she and Williams each had two saves.
Newman also used two goalkeepers, Haley Borchers and Kayleith Renfro. Renfro had the only save between the pair.
"Newman did a good job of just simply getting everything forward when it was in the back and not letting us pass the ball around as much as we would like," Robison said. "But ultimately we didn't have enough intensity and enough aggressiveness up top to generate anything else than what we did."
While OC is playing all but one Heartland Conference home-and-home this season, games against the Lady Eagles do not count in the conference standings, as OC is in the first year of the NCAA Division II membership process.
