The Stetson women's soccer team played its first home match in nearly a month yet did not achieve the result it wanted on its own turf. The Hatters fell to Gardner-Webb Thursday night by a score of 2-1.
The Hatters controlled the most of the match yet it was the Runnin' Bull Dogs who struck first. At 23:09 Gardner-Webb senior forward Brittany Woods scored on a shot from the right side that masqueraded as a cross. The shot floated just over the outstretched fingers of Stetson goalkeeper Andrea Garavaglia. The goal was unassisted.
Woods scored again just three minutes later when a direct kick by Angie Harvey cleared the Hatters and unexpectedly deflected off Woods head. The Runnin' Bull Dogs led 2-0.
“Early on they scored two goals and had only three shots”, said Hatters Head Coach Julie Orlowski. “They took advantage of their opportunities in the first half and we did not.”
Stetson held a 7-4 advantage in first half shots. They were even stronger in the second and led the game in shots 19-7. Gardner-Webb's goalkeeper Sarah Wyszynski had a great first half coming up with three saves. She had an equal number in the second half.
Sarah Stock came off the bench to provide a spark for the Stetson offense. Freshman midfielder Katie Bitetto continued to impress with her solid play in the midfield and up front.
Late in the second half the Hatters turned up the attack and hit Gardner-Webb with a barrage of scoring opportunities. All were turned away until 83:04 when senior Jennifer Hays scored her second goal of the season off a deflection in the box. The goal was unassisted. The tension built from that point as the Hatters kept the pressure on and narrowly missed the tying goal on more than one occasion.
“If we could have played the entire 90 minutes like we did in the second half, we would have shown who was the better team on the field”, said Orlowski. “I have to give them credit; they bent but did not break”.
“We need to finish our opportunities and get a little luck going our way. We need to keep working hard and someone has to step up. We gotta do the little things”, she added.
With the loss Stetson drops to 2-7-1 overall and 0-3-0 in A-Sun play. Gardner-Webb raised its record to 4-6-0 and 2-1-0. Stetson returns to the field Saturday when it hosts Campbell University at 2:00 p.m.
