The Bruins left their scoring woes at home as they traveled to take on the Tennessee Temple Crusaders in Chattanooga on Saturday. The BJU women’s soccer team answered many questions about whether their ball control and possession struggles would continue as they came up with four goals in a commanding victory over TTU.
“We need to control the pace of the game and keep possession,” the Bruins’ Becca Luttrell said. “If we play our game and do it well, we can beat any team we face.” Luttrell initiated the scoring 15 minutes into the game, and Jennifer Wise followed three minutes later to make it 2-0. Jill Iles scored third with a last-second goal that sent the Bruins into halftime carrying a 3-0 lead.
The Bruin women controlled the field for the second half, allowing the Crusaders only one goal near the end of the game. Bruins captain Sarah Porch scored the final goal with five minutes left to finalize the score at 4-1.
The victory followed a tough 2-0 defeat by Freed-Hardeman University at home Thursday, in which the Bruin women were outshot 19-7 and couldn’t seem to generate any offense or score past the TranSouth player of the week, goalkeeper Abbey Adkins.
Errant passes and lack of possession haunted the Bruins on the field, and slippery conditions early in the game didn’t help either.
The Freed-Hardeman Lions scored on a corner kick 25 minutes into the second half, then tacked on one more goal at the end of the game.
“We are getting killed on corner kicks right now,” Coach Carmichael said. “Probably 90 percent of the goals scored against us are from corner kicks. We need to do a better job of getting to the second ball.”
The BJU women’s soccer team will attempt to carry Saturday’s offensive momentum into Alumni Stadium on Friday when it attempts its second win of the season against the Toccoa Falls Eagles.