ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University women's soccer team fell to Capital University this afternoon at Weaver Field. The Thunder (1-2-0) struck first but were unable to hold off the guest Comets (2-1-0).
Elly McClelland notched her first career goal to provide the score for Trine.
Trine held a 17-11 advantage in shots and a 9-6 edge in corner attempts.
Johannah Houtkooper made six saves in goal for the Thunder.
The Thunder dominated possession early in the match, leading to three shots and a pair of corners in the first 30 minutes. Trine earned four consecutive corner opportunities in the 33
rd, 34
th, and 35
th minutes.
Erin Scully had a pair of shots but was unable to connect. A short offensive possession by the Comets yielded nothing for the guests. Trine responded by forcing a pair of saves by the Capital keeper.
Maggie McDowell and
Julia Benham forced the saves.
The Thunder were again on the offensive following a yellow card by the Comets. This time Trine was able to connect,
Ava Leihgeber made a pass from the far corner into the box and McClelland connect on the header to the low right post for the goal. The lead was short lived, sparked by the goal, Capital immediately pressured the Trine defense and were able to beat Houtkooper to the low left corner for the goal.
Capital kept the momentum out of halftime and scored a second goal on their first shot of the half in the 47
th minute. From there, Capital controlled the pace of play in the midfield and limited Trine to just one shot on goal. Leihgeber was able to win a few extra possessions for Trine in the waning minutes but the Thunder offense was unable to breakthrough. A final corner in the closing seconds was cleared by Capital and sealed Trine's fate.
The Thunder will head to Maryville College in Tennessee this weekend for a matchup with the Scots and another with Sewanee University.
