The Dominican University women's soccer team staked to a 1-0 lead behind a first half goal from
Kelli Iovino (Arlington Heights, Ill.) but were doomed by a pair of second half tallies in a 2-1 loss to the North Central College Cardinals in Naperville on Friday night.
"In the first half we possessed really well—moved the ball and created good opportunities, eventually finishing one to take a 1-0 lead," said second-year head coach
Carlos Carrillo. "However, in the second half we weren't as sharp and started to fatigue. They started to press us and serve balls over our backline. As they leveled the score, we opened up and were forced to play more direct, losing sight of our possession game."
Iovino got the Stars on the board in the 37
th minute when a ball played through the North Central backline by
Taylor Adler (Shorewood, Ill.) put Iovino in a foot race with a Cardinal defender. Iovino was the first to the ball and was able to poke a shot to the left of North Central's goalkeeper for the 1-0 lead.
After shots were nearly even in the first half—6-5 in North Central's favor—the Cardinals upped the pressure in the second 45, ripping 10 shots while giving up just one to the Stars.
The Cardinals eventually netted the equalizer in the 64
th minute and then tallied the game-winner nine minutes later in the 73
rd on a shot from 30 yards out by Sarah Gaither that sailed just out of the reach of the Stars'
Vanessa Gonzalez (Chicago, Ill.).
Dominican had a quality scoring opportunity in the final two minutes when
Kaitlyn Tripp (Imperial, Mo.) got a head on
Charlotte Wentzel's (Naperville, Ill.) corner service, but the attempt sailed wide.
"We never truly created quality opportunities but competed throughout the match," remarked Carrillo. "Although not the result we were looking for, we took steps in the right direction toward where we want to be."
The Stars, now 0-2-0 on the year, return to action on Wednesday, September 9, traveling to Millikin University to take on the Big Blue in non-conference action. Kickoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. in Decatur, Illinois.