On Thursday, Oct. 5, the Oakland women’s soccer team tied with the Robert Morris University (RMU) Colonials with a final score of 1-1 at the Grizz Dome.
The Grizzlies started off the game strong, maintaining an advantage over RMU. Thanks to some solid passing and exceptional ball control, the Grizzlies were dominant with the amount of time they had possession of the ball.
RMU eventually fought back, eating into the share of the possession from the Grizzlies. Although the Colonials had the first shot attempt of the day, nothing came to fruition, thanks to a congesting Grizzlies defense.
Following the RMU shot attempt, forward Jayna Fraser responded with an attempt of her own. It was the best look at a goal the Grizzlies got in the first half; however, the shot was saved by RMU’s goalie, Brenna Murray.
“I thought we played a fantastic first 30 minutes of that first half where we were really running on all cylinders in terms of keeping the ball,” head coach Juan Pablo Favero said. “Unfortunately, I don’t think we got enough bang for our buck for all that possession; we didn’t create enough scoring chances.”
In the final 15 minutes of the first half, the Colonials began to ramp up the pressure on all sides of the pitch against the Grizzlies. Notably, RMU got two shot attempts off compared to OU’s zero attempts in the final 15 minutes.
Heading into the half tied, it was still anyone’s game. While RMU looked more polished on offense at the end of the half, the OU defense and goalie Julia Zangerl’s effort provided a wall the Colonials could not get past.
At the start of the second half, the Colonials had a slight advantage over the Grizzlies in possession and control of the ball. Additionally, RMU’s defense broke up many of OU’s early offensive attacks, leading to more chances for the Colonials to score.
Just seven minutes into the second half, following some impressive dribble moves from RMU forward Renae Mohrbacher, the Colonials secured the match’s first goal. The Colonials now had the lead over the Grizzlies with a score of 1-0.
After the Colonial goal, a switch was flipped in the Grizzlies offense. Although the Grizzlies had possession of the ball for the majority of the game at this point, the offense applied heavy pressure on the Colonial defense.
“There’s a mentality that we train through a lot of different ways throughout our training sessions, through our sports psychology sessions about mentality and how we want to respond to adversity,” Favero said on how the team responded to RMU’s goal.
The opportunity to score materialized in the 74th minute when the Grizzlies evened up the playing field with a goal from forward Frankie Mudd. Notably, Mudd’s goal marks her third of the season.
In the remaining 16 minutes of the match, both the Grizzlies and Colonials had solid opportunities to take the lead. However, both teams failed to convert their chances at a second goal, and the game ended in a tie.
“The positive is, our possession was the best game of the year in terms of the stats,” Favero said. “The growth area is, how do we make that yield more scoring chances? So, we’ll double down on that.”
The Grizzlies will kick off next on Thursday, Oct. 12, against Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis on the road. The next home game will be on Sunday, Oct. 15, against the UW-Green Bay Phoenix.
