On Thursday, Sept. 7, the Oakland women’s soccer team tallied their fourth loss of the season to the Western Michigan Broncos with a score of 3-0.
The Golden Grizzlies displayed great defense to start the first half. Many of Western Michigan’s chances to move the ball forward were broken up in the midfield. Additionally, the Grizzlies remained patient but ready to strike on offense with a gust of wind blowing in their favor.
This came to fruition in the fifth minute of play, when forward Jayna Fraser went up for a header in an attempt to score a goal. Unfortunately, Fraser collided with the Broncos goalkeeper, Lauren Boafo mid-air. Despite the collision, the Grizzlies were not awarded a penalty kick, and Fraser did not make a return to the game.
Minutes later, the Broncos picked up the pressure on both sides of the ball. After shutting down the Grizzlies’ attack, the Broncos took full control of the offense, attempting two goals in the span of a minute in the 14th minute.
Despite the Grizzlies seeing small bumps of momentum, the Broncos were relentless, leaving the Grizzlies with barely any breathing room on both sides of the pitch. Although the Broncos maintained steady pressure on offense, Grizzlies goalie Julia Zangerl refused to let a Bronco goal go in before halftime.
Come the second half, the Broncos kept the pressure coming.
With the wind now in the Broncos’ favor, they did not hold back. Midfielder Emily Pagget scored the Broncos’ first goal in the 53rd minute, and forward Abby Werthman tallied another goal just five minutes later, bumping their lead to 2-0.
In the 60th minute, the Grizzlies found some hope with a shot attempt by midfielder Shannon Brown, but it sailed right over the crossbar. Notably, Brown’s shot was the only shot attempt by Oakland in the entire game in comparison to Western’s 22 shot attempts.
Following Brown’s miss, the Broncos kept control of the rest of the game and continued to attack on offense. Broncos midfielder Bria Telemaque would find the net in the 84th minute for the Broncos, expanding the lead for the final time to 3-0.
The Grizzlies will face off with the Toledo Rockets next on Sept. 10 at 1 p.m. The game will be played at Paul Hotmer Field in Toledo and marks the Grizzlies’ final matchup before conference play starts on Sept. 17.
