This past weekend, the Ferris State Bulldog women’s soccer team looked to continue their win streak with two games at home on Friday, Oct. 20 against the Davenport Panthers and Sunday, Oct. 22 against the Grand Valley State Lakers.
Ultimately, the Bulldogs came out of the weekend winless, as they tied 1-1 to Davenport(5-5-4, 2-5-4 in conference0 before losing 2-1 to the Lakers(8-2-5, 6-1-4 in conference).
The Bulldogs, who tied with Davenport on the road earlier this season, continued their streak of draws against the Panthers on Friday.
After a scoreless first half, the Bulldogs got onto the scoreboard first with a goal from senior forward Payton Price assisted by freshman forward Katherine Welch early in the second half. This was Price’s fifth goal of the season.
The Bulldogs couldn’t quite hang onto their lead however with more struggles defending set-pieces. Davenport would later score from a free kick in the second half to tie the game.
This ended in a 1-1 draw despite a late chance by the Bulldogs. This was the Bulldogs fourth draw of the season.
For head coach Greg Henson, the 1-1 game did not resemble a draw.
“A tie never feels like a tie,” Henson said. “This one kind of feels like a loss today.”
That was not the end of the weekend for the Bulldogs, as they hosted Grand Valley State on Sunday. This was also the Bulldog’s Alumni Appreciation Day, in which they paid tribute to the Bulldog soccer alumni in attendance.
The Bulldogs were looking to bounce back after Friday’s draw and get revenge on their rivals, the Lakers, after losing to them 2-1 earlier this season.
Junior goalkeeper Darya Mosallaei made the start in net again Sunday, recording two saves.
The Lakers scored early in the first half from their first shot of the game and then the Bulldogs conceded a second goal halfway through the first half.
Henson elected to make a substitution having Lauren Kubacki check in at goalkeeper. She made 3 saves in the second half while not allowing a goal.
After a rough first half in which the Bulldogs were struggling to create chances, they fought their way back into the game. The turning point came when Welch headed the ball past the Lakers keeper after a corner kick from junior defender Lindsay Cole.
The second half goal was their lone goal of the day despite a few late chances. The Bulldogs lost 2-1 and are now winless against their rivals this season.
Henson felt that his team fought hard in the second half to no avail.
“Our response in the second half was really strong,” Henson said. “We just couldn’t find the equalizer.”
Welch echoed her coach’s thoughts in believing that they “came out as a whole new team” in the second half.
With three games left in the season before the GLIAC playoffs, the team has to go on the road for it’s remaining matches.
Despite the loss, Welch still has a lot of hope and optimism about the remainder of the season.
“These next couple weekends we’re really gonna come back and get these wins that we need,” Welch said.
With no home games remaining for the Bulldogs, they’ll travel to Houghton to face the Michigan Tech Huskies on Friday, Oct. 27 and then face the Northern Michigan Wildcats in Marquette on Sunday, Oct. 29.