The Bulldogs were looking to get back to their winning ways at home this weekend, as they faced the Northern Michigan Wildcats on Friday, Sept. 22 and then played the Michigan Tech Huskies on Sunday, Sept 24.
After a tough run of away games, in which the Bulldogs went 0-2-2, they were hoping to turn it around and come away with two conference wins. Unfortunately for the women, back-to-back 2-1 losses have them looking at a six-game winless streak that leaves them at 2-4-2 on the season and 0-3-1 in conference games.
Head coach Greg Henson felt that all the Bulldogs need to do to succeed is to play a full game.
“We just got to put it all together in a 90 minute segment and we’re gonna be a dangerous team,” Henson said. “We didn’t give up a goal in the run of play this weekend, but we got to do better.”
Head coach Greg Henson also stated that they will “do whatever we need to do to win games.”
In Friday’s match, the Bulldogs started off on the wrong side of things when they conceded a goal to Northern Michigan (6-1-1, 2-1-1 in conference) from a corner kick. Following the goal from Northern, scoring went silent. Starting the second half, the Bulldogs would find the equalizer courtesy of freshman forward Maryn Rettenmund for her first collegiate goal. The Bulldogs’ burst of life would not last for long as, after multiple corner kicks late in the game, the Wildcats slipped one past Ferris goalkeeper Darya Mosallei. The Bulldogs could not find another equalizer and fell 2-1.
Mosallei noticed a trend in opposition scoring through the last couple of games.
“Three of our goals in the last two games have been off of set pieces so it’s definitely something that we will plan on working on,” Mosallei said.
Henson, like Mosallei, noticed the set piece scoring and believed that Northern was a “very dangerous team with set pieces.”
With the loss to Northern Michigan behind them, the Bulldogs looked for redemption in their next match against the Michigan Tech Huskies (4-1-3, 3-0-1 in conference). However, the Bulldogs failed to find victory and continued their skid.
Despite the loss, senior Payton Price was pleased with the team’s effort and feels there’s one thing they can do to start getting back into the win column.
“We just need to win one to continue winning,” Price said. “We never gave up the entire game so I’m proud of us for that.”
Head coach Greg Henson decided to make a goalie change this game and started Junior Lauren Kubacki in net for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs opted for a change in goal following Friday’s loss, choosing to start junior goalkeeper Lauren Kubacki. The change does not seem out of the ordinary as the Bulldogs did the same in their last home stand with Mosallei starting on Friday then Kubacki starting on Sunday.
The Bulldogs found themselves down early again in the first half, and it did not end there. The Huskies then scored from a free kick in the second half. It wasn’t over just yet for the Bulldogs as Price scored her second goal of the season late in the second half. The Bulldogs were not able to score another goal and fell in a 2-1 loss again.
Henson still has a lot of hope still in this team and believes they can improve.
“I’m really proud of the effort in the second half, especially the response after giving the second goal,” Henson said. “I think we played really well at that moment fighting our way back into the match.”
The Bulldogs will look to next weekend to stop their winless skid. The Bulldogs will be on the road and to play against Purdue-Northwest on Friday, Sept. 29 and then at Wisconsin-Parkside on Sunday, Oct. 1. The team will return home on Oct. 6 to play the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals in another interconference matchup.