Nov. 1, 2009

Box Score

MACOMB, Ill. - Sophomore Sarah Lynch tallied her fifth goal of the year but it was not enough as the Oakland University (7-9-1, 4-4-1 Summit) women's soccer team lost 2-1 to Western Illinois (8-7-2, 5-3-1 Summit) Sunday afternoon at John MacKenzie Alumni Field. The loss ended the Golden Grizzlies streak of Summit League Tournament appearances at 10.

"It's very frustrating not getting into the Summit League Tournament," said head coach Nick O'Shea. "I thought Lindsey Blair had a great performance in her final game. It's frustrating to play must win games in bad conditions. However, the girls have to step it up. I think they are realizing that sometimes games are won more on heart rather than skills."

In the first half, Oakland was very aggressive offensively getting off eight shots to just three for Western Illinois. With 6:45 to go, sophomore Deanna Colarossi went around a defender and blasted a shot at the net that Laura Atkinson had to dive at to knock away.

In the second half, at the 58:23 mark, Oakland was called for a foul in the box. Alison Smyth converted the penalty kick to make it 1-0, Leathernecks.

With 7:46 left in the game, senior Kirsten Stencel fired a shot that was just over the top of the crossbar. At the 83:09 mark, Lynch was fouled in the box. She rifled the penalty kick into the back of the twine to make it 1-1. With 5:41 to go, the ball became loose in front of the Oakland goal. Katie Condon knocked the ball in for what would be the game winner.

The game was a physical battle with 24 fouls being called and four cards were issued. Oakland had 15 shots with six corner kicks and 14 fouls while Western Illinois had 13 shots with three corner kicks and 10 fouls. Sophomore Shannon Coley had five saves for OU.

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