EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Missouri S&T women's soccer team took to the field away from the comforts of home for the final time in 2021 Sunday at Strassweg Field to close out their tour of the Hoosier State against Southern Indiana. The Miners (6-5-3, 5-4-3) were unable to overcome a pair of first half goals by the Screaming Eagles (9-4-2, 7-4-1), falling by a final score of 3-1.
The first goal of the day came early in the first half, as just into the seventh minute, Keely Thompson gave USI the lead.
Kristin Steins (Ballwin, MO/Parkway South) made a pair of saves just about 12 minutes later to keep the deficit at one.
Sydney Gratz (Geneva, IL/Geneva) had a look at the equalizer for the Miners in the 16th minute but the shot was saved by the USI keeper.
Gratza had another look in the 26th minute but was again turned away by the keeper. Steins made two more saves in the following minutes before Gratz lined up her third shot of the day that was again saved by the goalie. Southern Indiana scored again in the 42nd minute to double their lead to 2-0 heading into the half.
The second half opened with a much slower pace to the game than the first half with the two sides combing for just two shots in the first 18 minutes of play. In the 64th minute, a yellow card was issued to
Katrina Sargent (Overland Park, KS/Shawnee Mission South) and penalty kick was awarded to USI. The Screaming Eagles converted the try to extend their lead to 3-0.
Less than a minute later,
Melanie Kulig (Belleville, IL/Belleville West) got the Miners on the board, beating the keeper on a ball from
Beth Roberts (Lake St. Louis, MO/Liberty) to make it 3-1. S&T tried to rally in the closing minutes but the deficit was too much to overcome as the afternoon came to a conclusion
Steins finished with seven saves in goal before handing things over to
Viktoria Johnson (Granite City, IL/Granite City) who posted a save in the final 18 minutes of play. Gratz led the way with three shot attempts while Kulig had two of her own.
The Miners close out the regular season at home starting Friday with a 5 P.M. match against Illinois Springfield at the Missouri S&T Soccer Field.
