Sure there was more to it, but Emporia State forward Andrea Harris seemed to sum up her team’s struggles pretty well after a 2-1 loss to Northwest Missouri on Sunday.
“They got their chances,” Harris said. “We missed ours.”
It was that kind of day for the Hornets, who couldn’t ever come up with an equalizer despite having numerous opportunities to score in the final 18 minutes.
“You have those every once in awhile, where it seems like no matter what you do, it’s just not going to go in,” ESU coach Jim Schneiderhahn said. “That’s very frustrating.”
It wasn’t from a lack of effort by the Hornets.
Though ESU has had difficulties in the final minutes of previous games, it wasn’t the case Sunday after Shannon FitzGerald gave Northwest a 2-1 lead in the 72nd minute.
By going all-out — and also creating a frantic pace — the Hornets produced numerous scoring chances down the stretch.
In the 79th minute, Raquel White’s shot was deflected in the box. The rebound came to Sarah Tetuan, who launched a shot that was corralled on a jump save by Northwest keeper Alison Sheridan.
Tetuan had another opportunity four minutes later. After a Northwest turnover, she controlled the ball on the right side with an empty net as Sheridan was left out of position.
The sophomore rushed a shot towards the goal, but it ended up sailing wide.
“I saw the keeper out, and I just kicked it,” Tetuan said. “I tried chipping it, but it kind of went far and the wrong way.”
In the 90th and final minute, ESU was denied one last time.
Off a corner kick, Harris mustered a shot on goal, but again Sheridan came away with the crucial save.
“It was a good battle,” Harris said. “I’m disappointed that we lost, but the last 20 minutes — if we battle like that the rest of the year — we’re going to be a scary team.”
ESU fell behind early, as Northwest took advantage of a mistake deep in the Hornet box.
Kathryn Killion was called for a handball, and Amy Jackson found the top right corner of the net on the subsequent penalty kick to give Northwest a 1-0 lead.
The Hornets rallied to tie it just before half.
On a lead ball from Tetuan, Harris broke through on a breakaway and beat Sheridan one-on-one to knot the score at 1.
“That was an amazing ball. She couldn’t have put it any better,” Harris said. “I just happened to sneak through the gap to get it. That was all Sarah. I just happened to see it and make the run.”
The teams remained tied for exactly 30 minutes before FitzGerald snuck a shot from the right side over the outstretched arms of ESU keeper Erin Allen.
From there, the Hornets threatened but never could break through.
“We should have won that game,” Tetuan said, “and we had all the opportunities in the world to finish it.”
Emporia State 3,
Missouri Western 1
ESU did pick up its first conference victory on Saturday, defeating Missouri Western, 3-1, at the TRYSA Soccer Complex.
Jessica Jaecques put the Hornets in a good position, scoring an unassisted goal just 100 seconds into the match.
Alicia Smith added to the lead, finding the net in the 38th minute on an assist from Tetuan.
Western’s Meigan Soo closed the gap with a goal in the 78th minute, but ESU’s Caitlin Riemer made sure the lead would stand.
Her goal in the 87th minute — which deflected off the post and then in from 25 yards out — gave the Hornets a 3-1 edge.
ESU (3-7, 1-3 MIAA) travels to play Southwest Baptist on Saturday.