FLORENCE, SC – A pair of goals in the opening 12 minutes of the first half was not enough as the Francis Marion University women's soccer team surrendered three second-half goals to suffer a 3-2 defeat against No. 8-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne University on Wednesday evening (Sept. 2) on Hartzler Field.
Francis Marion (1-1-0) will travel to Murfreesboro, N.C. to begin its Conference Carolinas schedule against Chowan University on Saturday. Kickoff is slated for 4:30 p.m.
In the 11th minute, graduate student forward
Tehya Dave' chased down the ball along the left side before finding junior forward
Isabella Fregoso, who fired a shot into the upper-left corner of the net, deflecting off the keeper's glove to take a 1-0 advantage.
Just moments later, Dave' pushed the tempo once again along the left side, where she found sophomore forward
Matea Bradfield, who connected into the lower-right corner in the 12th minute, for her third goal of the season.
The Bears came out of halftime with relentless pressure, controlling a majority of the possession in the offensive end. Their efforts paid off in the 58th minute, as LR's Mya Rivera rose above the Francis Marion defense to head the ball into the upper-right corner of the goal, 2-1.
In the 77th minute, LR converted a free kick, and Rivera secured her brace with a header from six yards out to tie the contest at 2-2.
With the clock winding down, Dave' had one final opportunity to put the Patriots in front as her shot in the 86th minute beat the keeper but ricocheted off the woodwork.
Lenoir-Rhyne sealed the comeback victory at the 87:57 mark as Kennedy Flowers struck a shot in the lower-left corner of the goal from roughly 28 yards out, securing the 3-2 road win.
For team statistics, the Patriots took 10 shots (4 on goal), while the Bears took 7 (4 on goal). Lenoir-Rhyne tallied nine total corner kicks while Francis Marion only registered three.
