Asbury (Ky.) battles in 2-0 loss to No. 1 seed Spring Arbor in NAIA Opening Round
Asbury (Ky.) battles in 2-0 loss to No. 1 seed Spring Arbor in NAIA Opening Round
By Asbury Sports Information
SPRING ARBOR, Mich. - The Asbury University women's soccer team fell 2-0 on Saturday afternoon at No. 1 seed Spring Arbor University in the NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship Opening Round. The Eagles end the season with an overall record of 11-8-1 with the loss.
AU returned to the national tournament for the second consecutive season and it was the fourth time in program-history they found themselves playing in the championship opening round.
In today's match, Spring Arbor dominated the ball and possession in the opening half and had the Eagles were reeling early.
Despite being on the defensive end for the majority of the half, Asbury was able to hold its own with the No. 1 seed and kept the match scoreless for the first 40 minutes of action.
With four minutes remaining in the half, SAU scored off of a corner kick to take a 1-0 advantage.
The Cougars led 1-0 at halftime.
In the second half, the Eagles' defense stepped up again early on and made several critical stops to keep the match at just 1-0.
However, Asbury struggled to find many offensive opportunites and were limited to just one shot in total on the day.
Spring Arbor fired off a total of 23 shots throughout the contest.
With 12 minutes remaining in the second half, SAU would score once more off of a goal inside the box to take a defining 2-0 lead.
Goalkeeper Carley Pyles finished the day with six saves in total.