Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Western Kentucky University
Minielli praises defense as Racers drop season-opener
8/27/2004 5:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Murray State and the Lady Toppers played aggressively, combining for 38 fouls and five yellow cards (cautions). The Racers claimed 22 of the fouls, while WKU notched three of the yellow cards.
Both teams had scoring chances in the first half, with Murray State taking seven shots and Western Kentucky nine. The Lady Toppers broke the drought with a 15-foot shot by Betsy Duncan on a pass from Kim Wilkowski with 18:05 left in the first half. That goal was the only score of the first half.
WKU picked up the pace on offense in the second half, but couldn't find the goal again until Jackie Krieger kicked the ball loose from Fortier's hands in front of the net and put it in with 25:54 remaining.
Western Kentucky quickly scored again, as Krieger drove through midfield, then passed ahead to Duncan, who booted a 20-yarder into the goal with 22:13 left in regulation.
"We're obviously disappointed," said MSU head coach Mike Minielli. "We wanted to win the game, but with all new players playing against a veteran team like Western Kentucky, we knew it was going to be a struggle.
"We did some things we're pleased with, and some things we've got to work on. I'm very pleased with the way our defense played. We made a couple of mistakes, but we really held a good offensive team pretty well in check. Annie (Fortier) played really well.
"Offensively, we've got some things to work on," he said. "That's to be expected, with a new team, you've got to feel around and see where everybody needs to be. We didn't get a lot of good looks on offense, and we've got to get that sorted out.
"We played harder today than we did all of last year, and that was the thing we had to get fixed. We will play better on Sunday than we did today, and by the time our conference season rolls around, we will be where Western Kentucky is right now."
Murray State travels to Southwest Missouri State on Sunday for a 1 p.m. game. The Racers then return home to host Valparaiso on Sept. 5 at 1 p.m.
