BLUEFIELD, Va. – Women's soccer has made a habit of dominating the final minutes of each half and that has helped turned the momentum in their favor during a couple of their most recent victories. Today, the Bears (7-9, 3-5 MSC) had the tables turned on them as Bluefield (7-8, 3-5 MSC) scored twice in the final 10 minutes of the opening half to carry a 3-0 lead into halftime. Shawnee State could not get anything going in the second half either and fell 4-0 on the road in conference play.
The Bears recorded the first two shots on goal of the contest, but it was the Rams that would tally first in the 15th minute of play. Shawnee State's defense would limit the Bluefield offense to just more one shot, which was saved by Emily Kuehn, up until just over eight minutes to go in the first. However, the Rams would tally their second goal of the half on just their fourth shot of the game.
Just when it looked like it was going to be a two-goal deficit heading into the half, things took another turn for the worse when the Bears were called for a foul in the box with seven seconds to play in the opening half. The Rams would convert their penalty kick attempt and take a commanding 3-0 lead into the break.
Bluefield was very efficient with its offense, scoring on two of its five shots from the field in the half. The Rams were three-for-six in scoring attempts counting the penalty kick.
Starting out the second half, Shelbi Halverson, who came on with just over five minutes to play in the opening half, was called on to make four saves in the first 15 minutes of the second half. At the other end of the field, Bluefield's keeper made two stops in that time.
After a fast and furious start to the second half, neither side would record another shot until there was just under six minutes to play. Bluefield would also finish this attempt to seal the 4-0 win as the Bears put one additional shot on goal during the remaining minutes.
The Rams took six shots in both halves, while SSU took four in the first and three in the second. Brittney Brooks and Jessica Fair each finished with two shots. Alisha Fournier, Aubrey Johnson and Haley Ruggles also recorded shots on Saturday.
In goal, Kuehn played the first 39:55 and made one save. Halverson played the remaining 50:05 and made four stops. Each goalie allowed two goals with the penalty kick coming against Halverson.
Women's soccer will play its final non-conference game of the season this Tuesday when the team travels to Kentucky Christian for a 3 p.m. match. That will be followed by the men's game at 5 p.m. The final game of the regular season will be next Saturday against Cumberland University. Shawnee State is currently tied with Bluefield for sixth place in the MSC standings, but the Rams hold the tiebreak with one game to play after its win today.
