David Sheets reporter
Pitt State’s women’s soccer team went on the road for the final time this regular season where they split the result of their matches as one win and one loss. This puts the Gorillas at an overall record of 7-6-2, with a record of 3-4-2 inside the conference. The weekend brought Pitt State’s conference tally up to 11, placing them 8th in the MIAA standings. Friday, Oct. 25, the Gorillas would fall to the #20 ranked Missouri Western State Griffons with a final score of 0-1. The Gorillas gave up the only goal of the match in the 75th minute.
“We defended very well for 88 minutes; we had a lapse just for two minutes and they took advantage. We’ve got to put a complete 90 minutes together. We were just trying to get points in any way we can going into the tournament so we can qualify.” Remarked head coach Wes Branstetter. “We knew that (Missouri Western) were good. They’re undefeated, I think they have a couple of draws, but they’ve been very good.” Branstetter said.
Pitt State was outshot two to seventeen against the Griffons along with having zero corner kicks compared to Missouri Western’s six. The two shots came from freshman Bella Park and senior McKenna Robinson, with Robinson’s being a shot on goal. Freshman Jocelyn Kramar and junior Macy Clements swapped goalkeeping between halves, with Kramar recording five saves in the first half and Clements recording four in the second half.
The women’s soccer team then traveled a little more than 40 miles north for their match against the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats on Sunday, October 27th, where they bounced back from their loss two days prior as they defeated the Bearcats with a final score of 1-0.
“I think we learned from that first game that we’ve got to put that complete 90 minutes together so that we can get big results. I think that was really the biggest thing. (Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri) play two different styles, Northwest Missouri plays a little bit more possession-based soccer and Missouri Western are very good on the ball, but they’re a little bit more straightforward.” Branstetter said.
Junior Sailor Jensen scored the only goal of the match, as well as her first on the season, in the 56th minute with an assist by senior McKenna Robinson. Junior Adriana Delgado would lead the team in both shots and shots on goal with three. Freshman goalkeeper Jocelyn Kramar posted her third shutout of the season, totaling 6 saves in the match.
The Pitt State women’s soccer team will be hosting the final three matches of the regular season over this next week. They will be taking on the Central Oklahoma Bronchos on Friday, November 1st, the Central Missouri Jennies on Sunday, November 3rd, and the Missouri Southern State Lions on Wednesday, November 6th. All three matches will start at 2pm on their respective days.