The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s soccer team put up a strong defensive battle Friday night at Murray, Ky., but fell 2-0 to Murray State in non-conference action. The Mocs fall to 1-2 overall and the Racers are now 1-1 on the year.
UTC freshman keeper Melia Correa (Clarksville, Tenn.) returned to the goal Friday and made six saves while her defensive front kept the Racers at bay for much of the game and had two team saves.
“For us it is improving each and every time we train and play,” Chattanooga head coach Gavin McKinney said.
“We conceded two scrappy goals and walked away disappointed.”
Murray State’s first goal came in the first half on a corner kick. Karsyn Hasch picked up the corner on the far post and her touch went through the scrum in front of the goal and was pushed in by Emma Heise at the 34:52 mark to make it 1-0.
That score would stand through the remainder of the half and the Mocs had a 10-8 shots advantage in the frame.
In the second half, Mazie Fry pushed a pass into the box, and Aaron Lankster, coming in at an angle, picked up the pass away from Correa to make it 2-0 in the 56th minute.
Chattanooga outshot the Racers 18-14 with a 12-10 shots on goal advantage. Junior Ellie Myrick (Knoxville, Tenn.) led the Mocs with five shots, two on goal and sophomore Masey Fox (Greenback, Tenn.) had a team-best three shots on goal on all three of her attempts.
“We created more than enough opportunities for ourselves,” McKinney said. “We’ve got to keep our head up and get back out tomorrow and improve in areas we need to improve and move on to Sunday.”
Several shots by the Mocs were near-misses. Fox hit a shot off the post while Myrick had a shot heading in at the top of the net but punched over the crossbar at the last second.
Lankster and Anna Richards each had three shots for Murray State and keeper Alex Steigerwald made 12 saves in the win.
Chattanooga returns home to host SEC foe Alabama Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Finley Stadium. Admission is free and concessions will be available. Follow the action at GoMocs.com.
Scoring summary:
No. Time Team Goal scorer Assist
1. 34:52 MUR HEISE, Emma (1) HASCH, Karsyn
Scrum in front of goal 11 with quick pass
2. 55:10 MUR LANKSTER, Aaron (1) FRY, Mazie
slow roller with a tap in by 9