WSU drops first match of season
Soccer loses perfect record on road with defeat in Colorado
ABBY LINENNKOHL | DAILY EVERGREEN FILE
Working her way around the top of the 18-yard box, freshman forward Hailey Smith keeps the ball out of the reach of Oregon State’s freshman defender Ilihia Keawekane in the matchup on Sunday afternoon.
October 4, 2018
The saying goes all good things must come to an end, and that turned out to be the case for No. 7 WSU soccer which lost its perfect record to University of Colorado on Thursday afternoon.
The Cougars knew they would need to give it their all against Colorado if they wanted to keep their undefeated streak alive.
Colorado came into the game with the second-ranked scoring offense in the nation, forcing the Cougs to be sharp defensively.
Unfortunately, the Cougs did not get off to the start they wanted when the Buffaloes came out flying from the opening whistle, leading to a corner kick in the second minute. Colorado executed the kick and junior midfielder Taylor Kornieck put the ball in the back of the net to give the Buffaloes an early 1-0 lead.
Things took another step back for WSU in the 13th minute when WSU redshirt junior goalkeeper Rachel Thompson misplayed a shot leading to a rebound that Colorado redshirt senior forward Jorian Baucom put in the back of the net to give the Buffaloes a 2-0 lead in the first half.
Despite the rough start, the Cougs turned it around and in the 14th minute had their first great scoring chance from junior forward Morgan Weaver. However, her shot bounced off the crossbar and did not go in.
The Cougars kept the pressure up in the rest of the first half with another shot from Weaver that hit off the post before Colorado’s redshirt junior goalkeeper Jalen Tompkins made the save. The first half ended with the Cougs down by two goals.
The second half was much better for the Cougs as they found the back of the net in the 58th minute when Weaver scored on a pass from senior defender Maddy Haro. That was Weaver’s team-leading seventh goal of the season and Haro’s team-leading 10th assist of the season.
After that, the Cougs kept battling hard but were unable to score again before Colorado tallied another goal late in the 83rd minute from senior midfielder Megan Massey to make it a 3-1 lead and put the game away for good.
The Cougars will take on University of Utah at 11 a.m. Sunday in Salt Lake City hoping to bounce back from their first defeat.
