The Stetson women's soccer team suffered a disappointing loss to the University of North Florida (4-8-1, 3-2-0) Friday night at the Stetson Soccer Complex. The Hatters controlled much of the game in the middle third of the field, yet couldn't push through for many quality scoring opportunities.
North Florida sophomore Whitney Colburn scored the games only goal at 24:03 of the first half when she was sent in by fellow sophomore Katelin Swift.
For the remainder of the first half neither team was able to slip past the opponent's defense. UNF led the first half shots by a 5-1 margin.
“We had trouble being creative in the attacking third tonight”, said Hatters Head Coach Julie Orlowski. “We are the most experienced team in the conference as far as juniors and seniors yet we still can't seem to get the scoring chances we should be getting.”
Stetson's best scoring opportunity came in the 70th minute when sophomore Emily Yero ripped a shot that deflected off the under side of the crossbar. Senior Sarah Stock pounced on the rebound, yet set her shot just wide right. Stetson led the Ospreys in second half shots 2-1 yet finished at a 6-3 deficit.
“We had a great opportunity when the ball hit the crossbar”, said Orlowski. “Unfortunately we didn't do more of that. From the midfield we kept playing the ball through to the keeper and making her look good. We can not do the same thing over and over and expect a different result.”
The Hatters (3-8-1, 1-4-0) return to the field Sunday when they travel to the University of Jacksonville to play the Dolphins. The team that eliminated Stetson from last year's conference tournament.
“We have had about 340 days to sit on that loss”, said Orlowski. “This will be a pivotal game in our season - the biggest game of the year.”
