Rolla, Mo. – The Missouri S&T Lady Miners dropped their season opener to Lindenwood
1-0 on Thursday at the S&T Soccer Field. The Lions scored the lone goal near the midway point of the first half and were able to make it stand.
Lindenwood (1-0) outshot S&T (0-1) 10-4 and put half of those on goal as they controlled the pace of play for a majority of the opening half. The Lady Miners appeared to take the lead in the 21
st minute as
Lauren Tolan (Columbia, Ill./Columbia) collected a rebound of her own missed shot and put it in but the goal was waved off due to offsides.
The Lions then broke the scoreless draw three minutes later. After a foul on S&T along the sideline Kelsey Becker placed a free kick headed toward the back post but it was knocked away. A scramble ensued to try to clear and it fell on Kristin Brewer's foot who knocked it in for the game-winner.
The Lady Miners registered only two shots on goal in the first 45 minutes while
Carrie Levy (Columbia, Mo./Rock Bridge ) kept them in the game stopping three of the four Lion chances.
S&T flipped the tables in the second half as the physical picked up with 15 fouls and three yellow cards issued.
Andrea Aller (Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleasant Valley ) nearly tied the game in the 56
th minute but her chance was saved by Zoe Wetzel and then in the final 25 minutes the Lady Miners had three chances but couldn't put any on frame.
The best chance game in the closing minutes as
Morgan Sikora (Highland, Ill./Highland) tried to head in a cross but her attempt was wide left. S&T outshot the Lions 5-2 in the second half and each team had a shot on goal.
Tolan and
Kendall Fitzpatrick (Houston, Texas/Memorial ) had two shots apiece while Aller, Sikora,
Julie Bride (Stilwell, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas),
Riley Cronin (Albuquerque, N. M./Sandia Prep) and
Rachel O'Neal (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park) had a shot apiece. Levy finished the contest with four saves.
The Lady Miners return to action on Saturday traveling down to Springfield to take on Missouri Southern in a 5 p.m. contest at Drury University.
