SOUTHFIELD, Mich. -- The Lawrence Technological (Mich.) University women's soccer team ran by the Huntington (Ind.) University Foresters with a 3-1 win in their 2018 season opener on Wednesday, August 22.
Leading with a strong first half, filled with a dominate possession and outshooting the Foresters 15-3, Lawrence Tech (1-0) came out on top with two quick goals. The first came with 5:13 into the half by Sidney McClay (FR/Romeo, Mich.) and an assist by Alayne Nyboer (JR/Grandville, Mich.). This movement was quick as Nyboer passed to a streaking ahead McClay who beat her defender for a great first goal as a freshmen. The second shot came only minutes later at 11:52 into the first half. This time, from Nyboer, who received an assist from McClay for the goal.
One the defensive side, the first half was quiet for LTU as they mainly had strong possession of the ball. Rebecca Almandoz (SO/Palmiste, San Fernando, Trinid) recorded a great diving save in the first half, backing up her strong defense. The team continued to outrun Huntington until the horn blazed.
After a strong first half, the Foresters (0-1) came out hungry withAshtyn Patrick answered back with an assist by Millie Adams with 22 minutes into the half after some redirection and cluttering by the net, making the game 2-1. The Blue Devils quickly answered with the defense streaking back to defend their net, led by Marie Anne Torres (SR/Mississauga, Ont., Canada).
Once back on their feet, LTU outshot Huntington 7-6 in the second half. The last answer after the Foresters goal came from Katelyn Mather (SO/Bloomfield, Mich.) with an assist by Nyboer, her second of the game, 30 minutes into the half. Huntington continued to fight, but Almandoz saved five more shots before the end of the game, recording six total saves.
The Blue Devils outshot the Foresters 22-9, had six corner kick opportunities compared to HU's one and both teams ended up with two fouls on the game.
Freshmen standout McClay ended the game with one goal and one assist, Lauren Wasiak (SO/Walled Lake, Mich.) had two shots on goal that were dialed in by HU's goalie, Autumn Demott, who had 14 saves total, keeping her team in the game, Nyboer recorded one goal, two assists, and four shots on goal, while Mather scored one goal and tallied four shots on goal as well.
Coach Andy Richards is happy with the win, but there is more to work on, "we still need to be more clinical in front of goal, we saw that against Goshen and we saw it again today, so that's something we need to continue to work on, buts it's early in the season." With Saturday being the next game, they have a few days to fix things before facing their next opponent, however, coming off a win can aid in a team's mood, "winning your first game takes pressure off, it's such a difference feeling between being 1-0 and 0-1, its gives everyone a little bit of confidence, we got a lot of girls in today, which was important," Richards' stated, "generally I thought [we were] good, I thought we were dominate, I thought we deserved to win, I know I'm bias, but we had more opportunities, we had the ball and had more corner shots."
Saturday, August 25, is the next game for the LTU women's soccer team where they will be going against the Shawnee State (Ohio) University Bears at Southfield A & T at 5 p.m. After the win against HU, it's on to the next for Richards' and his team, "We have to go again on Saturday, I don't know much about Shawnee [but] I'm sure they will be a good opponent for us, we just have to go and fight like we have to do at every game."
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