The No. 22-ranked John Brown women's soccer team dropped a 2-0 decision to No. 24 Benedictine (Kan.) in its final nonconference match of the 2014 slate on Saturday evening at Alumni Field.
The visiting Ravens (8-0-0) used 7-6 and 10-6 shooting advantages in the first and second half, respectively, but sophomore goalkeeper Kristen Morency put up a brick wall through the first 45 minutes, recording four saves. Morency would make two more saves in the second half before Benedictine was able to find the scoreboard in the 76th minute of play. The Ravens would add an insurance marker in the 80th minute. Down the stretch, Morency added another pair of saves to complete the match with eight in the loss.
At the 75:02 mark, BC's Jordan Franscescon unleashed a shot from the top of the box that appeared to glance off the underside of the crossbar and bounce out, a carom Morency quickly corralled. After little conferring, both the linesman and the center official awarded the Ravens the game's first tally.
Just over three minutes later, Benedictine padded its lead to 2-0 when a nifty give-and-go between Tessie Zarse and Maggie Hair sliced through the Golden Eagle defense inside the right flank of the box. Hair made no mistake when she found herself one-on-one with Morency, lofting a shot to the far left corner.
The Raven defense kept JBU (4-2-1) at bay for the entire evening, limiting the Golden Eagles to two shots on goal, the first recorded by sophomore forward Braydi Frederick in the 72nd minute. Under a minute later, freshman defender Lauren Tonkovich posted John Brown's second and final shot on goal.
JBU's best opportunity to score came in the 26th minute when a well-placed Sara Frey corner kick found the head of freshman defender Samantha Weber. Weber's header glanced just over the crossbar, preserving the BC shutout bid. Four minutes later, Frey nearly broke the 0-0 deadlock when her shot from the left flank just missed tucking into the far right post.
Morency came up with the save of the match at the 19:45 mark. Benedictine's Liz Enna eluded a pair of John Brown defenders up the right flank and cut inside the box. Enna unleashed a shot headed towards the near right post, but Morency was up to the task, deflecting the ball just past the post.
Senior midfielder Casey O'Brien and sophomore midfielder Sara Lachance each tallied a trio of shots to pace the JBU offense. Frey also added a pair of shot attempts.
The Golden Eagles will now hit the road and begin the Sooner Athletic Conference portion of its schedule on Saturday at Southwestern Christian (Okla.). The match, played in Bethany, Okla., will begin at 1 p.m.
Sports on 09/24/2014