As the season opened for Ferris State University women’s soccer team, the squad traveled to Allendale for the Grand Valley State Kickoff Tournament in hopes of getting the 2012 campaign off on the right foot.
The Bulldogs’ first two games of the season took place Aug. 31 and Sept. 2, during which both matches turned into thrilling double overtime contests.
In the season opener, Ferris took on the University of Indianapolis Greyhounds, and it was a battle. After the first half of play the score was 0-0. Early in the second half, two newcomers added goals to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 advantage as freshman forward Casey Shauman and freshman defender Ashley Bradstreet both notched their first collegiate goals.
The Greyhounds didn’t give up and tied up the game with two goals in the final twenty minutes to force the opener into overtime.
After the first overtime, the Greyhounds’ Kaitlyn Braunig put one past Ferris goalkeeper Rachel McCollum in the 104th minute to give the Bulldogs an emotional loss in the first game of the season.
“Well, we were up. We just didn’t play well in the second half. However, there was some good that came out of this loss. We have good team chemistry and we worked really well together,” senior forward Hillary Procunier said.
In game two of the opening weekend, the Bulldogs had an even tougher test at hand as they took on nationally third-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State University in a consolation game.
Ferris State University should be proud as the soccer team played extremely well, battling Armstrong Atlantic State to a 0-0 scoreless tie in a 110 minute double overtime thriller.
McCollum and the Ferris defense had fantastic games to hold a top-five team to zero goals as McCollum recorded nine saves/nine shots.
The Bulldogs come out of the first weekend of the season with a 0-1-1 record as they travel to Madonna University on Friday, Sept. 7 and then to Grand Valley State University for a non-conference match Wednesday, Sept. 12.
Procunier isn’t discouraged and the team’s goals remain as high as stated at the beginning of the season.
“Our team’s goal is to finish as one of the top three teams in the GLIAC Conference,” Procunier said.
Even with the winless weekend for Ferris, there is a lot to be proud of for the soccer team members, as they showed their grit and toughness, playing 205 minutes in two games over the opening weekend.