Lakeland College

Crusaders edge Muskies in the rain

Athletics - posted on 10/9/2012

Taylor Thompson scored midway through the second half and Maranatha Baptist Bible College withstood a number of good chances for the Lakeland College women's soccer team, defeating the Muskies 2-1 Tuesday afternoon in the rain.

Lakeland outshot Maranatha Baptist 18-15 for the match, including 13-9 in the second half, but it was Maranatha Baptist which got its third Northern Athletics Conference win of the season, improving to 3-6 in conference (5-9 overall). The Muskies dropped their seventh straight match and are now 3-10 overall and 2-6 in the NAC.

The Crusaders scored the winning goal off a bad bounce for the Lakeland defense. Thompson pressured the Muskies backline and got to a loose ball, beating goalkeeper Jessica Carter (Fr.-Schaumburg, Ill.) to make it 2-1.

It was one of few chances for Maranatha Baptist in the final 45 minutes as Lakeland controlled possession for a good portion of the second half and had several golden opportunities to score. The best came with five minutes left when Kelly Jens (Fr.-Sheboygan Falls, Wis.) dribbled past the defense on the left side for a one-on-one chance against Maranatha goalkeeper Michala Marino, but Jens blasted the ball right at Marino. The deflection rolled off to the right side where Brooke Schallar (So.-Howards Grove, Wis.) got to it and fired a shot that hit the left post and bounced back out, where it was eventually cleared by the Crusaders.

Jens had another great chance with just over a minute remaining when again she worked for a one-on-one opportunity. Again the shot went at the keeper Marino, and the Crusaders would clear the ball and the rest of the time.

An evenly played first half saw Maranatha Baptist score the first goal in the 13th minute when Jocelyn Enrique received a pass from Olivia Doerstling and lifted a shot over Ali Thompson (Fr.-Plymouth, Wis.) for a 1-0 lead. The Muskies answered in the 22nd minute when Krystina Cook (So.-Des Plaines, Ill.) stole the ball in the Crusaders end and struck a shot into the left corner of the net for her third goal of the season and to tie the match at 1-1.

Lakeland outshot Maranatha but put just six of its 18 shots on goal. The Crusaders finished with 10-6 margin in shots on goal. Carter came on in the second half and made six saves in her first action of the season.

Hannah Landgraf (Sr.-Elkart Lake, Wis.) took six shots to lead the Muskies offensively. Jens fired four shots and Liz Pritzl (Jr.-Cedar Grove, Wis.) added three shots.

Lakeland now gets ready to face nationally ranked Aurora (Ill.) University on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in Aurora. The Muskies' final home game of the season will be next Wednesday, Oct. 17, against Milwaukee School of Engineering, with game time set for 3:30 p.m.