PORTSMOUTH, Ohio (Women's Soccer) – Going into a Mid-South Conference (MSC) contest against Campbellsville, the Shawnee State women's soccer team knew that they had to keep leading goal-scorers Mhairi Fyfe and Rachel Veatch in check to be able to pull out a conference win over the Tigers.
After a ninth-minute goal by Fyfe, the Bears (4-3-1, 1-2 MSC) did just that as Shawnee State buckled down defensively and kept Campbellsville off of the board for the remainder of the first half as the Bears trailed just 1-0 at halftime.
However, the Tigers (9-0, 3-0 MSC) were able to receive two second-half goals as Veatch got on the board in the 61st minute and Carson Cline added another to put the contest out of reach as the Bears fell to Campbellsville by a 3-0 tally at the Shawnee Turf on Tuesday evening in Portsmouth.
"Losing a contest always stings, but the effort today was great," Shawnee State coach Rob Appell said. "Campbellsville's a very good team and Mhairi Fyfe and Rachel Veatch are two of the top goal-scorers in the conference. If we bring this kind of effort today to the table in every game, we will win a lot of games this year."
Over the first nine minutes of the contest, both teams would struggle to get a shot on goal until Devon Burnside advanced up the near side of the field and launched a cross straight to Fyfe, who nailed a shot past a diving Michaela Garner (FR/Heath, Ohio) to the far upper corner of the net to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead in the contest.
From there, Campbellsville began their assault on the net as the Tigers put up eight shots throughout the entirety of the first half.
Shawnee State, however, wasn't about to roll over to the undefeated and untied Tigers as Garner made three great saves to keep the Bears at a manageable distance.
Led by Garner's efforts, the Shawnee State defense found a groove as Tasha Wilson (SR/Kettering, Ohio), Erin Phillips (SR/Mount Sterling, Ohio), Mara McGee (SO/Baltimore, Ohio) and Adrianna Johnson (FR/Clarksville, Ohio) gave little openings to Fyfe and Veatch, who struggled to find any open spaces throughout the half as the Bears kept the deficit at a 1-0 tally entering the halftime break.
Fueled by their own impressive effort in the first half, the defense continued to hold the Campbellsville offensive attack at bay as Garner made three additional stops in the first 15 minutes of play and the Shawnee State defense blocked another shot to keep the game at a 1-0 margin.
Despite the gargantuan efforts of the Bears in keeping the Tigers at bay, Veatch made sure that the scoring drought was not to last.
The senior forward got out in front of the Shawnee State defense and beat Garner with a shot from the near side of the penalty box to the low back post on the far side of the net in the 61st minute to give Campbellsville a 2-0 advantage.
Over the next 25 minutes, the Bears kept right with Campbellsville and established several strong offensive attacks at the net through the sophomore duo of Jenny Campbell (SO/Chillicothe, Ohio) and Maddie Woodard (SO/Camden, Ohio) as well as freshman Kyla Toles (FR/Williamsburg, Ohio) as Garner continued to give Shawnee State a chance by racking up the saves in goal.
However, the best chances to strike – a 75th minute shot by Campbell, a 78th minute shot by Woodard, and a 80th minute shot by Toles – could not get past Campbellsville's Amanda Howard in goal.
From there, the constant offensive pressure from Campbellsville was enough to slow the Bears' attack down.
In the 86th minute, Garner made a great save on a Burnside shot, but in making the deflection, fell out of position on the far side of the net.
Burnside recovered just in time to kick a dart to Carson Cline, who added the finishing touches for the Tigers as Campbellsville went on to record the 3-0 victory.
For Shawnee State, Garner recorded a total of nine saves to head the Bears' efforts. Offensively, Campbell led the team with both of her shots coming on goal, while Toles added a shot on goal, as well.
As for the upcoming slate, the Bears will have a six-day layoff before returning to Shawnee Turf on Monday, Sept. 28 to host St. Mary-of-the-Woods (Ind.). That contest, which will be a nonconference bout, is set for a 4 p.m. start time.
