LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University women's soccer team suffered a 1-0 loss Sunday to a McKendree squad that played lockdown defense at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
McKendree (13-4, 10-4 GLVC) scored in the 65th minute and kept Bellarmine (11-2-3, 9-2-3) out of the net. The Bearcats bottled up the Knights' offense, as Bellarmine attempted only three shots in its regular-season home finale.
"I feel bad that we couldn't get a win for our seniors," Bellarmine Coach
Chris Tinius said. "They've contributed so much to this program and you want them to have a special day. But the reality is we didn't deserve to win this game."
McKendree finished with nine shots, converting on one in the second half. Chelsea Whittaker headed the ball after a long throw-in and there was a scramble in front of Bellarmine's net for the ball. Amanda Williams managed to poke it across the goal line for a 1-0 lead.
"Regardless of possession and other parts of the game, we keep giving the other team too many set pieces," Tinius said. "We can be careless with the ball through the middle of the field and keep giving chances for long throws. I know our fans get frustrated with certain calls, but again the reality is that we commit a lot of silly fouls by reaching and lunging for things that a little better initial effort or not being caught flat-footed would fix. Those are little things that catch up to you."
Zoe Brochu notched the shutout for McKendree. Bellarmine senior goalkeeper
Hannah Poteet had four saves.
Bellarmine closes the regular season Wednesday at Southern Indiana.
"I keep saying this, but we have to keep some type of confidence in knowing that we've done all of these little things correctly in the past," Tinius said. "We just have to break the cycle by finding consistent focus and battling harder. If we do, we can see dramatic changes very quickly.
"It's still all in front of us. A win on Wednesday still gets us a home game and we still have a shot to play our way into the NCAA Tournament. That said, we've given away any wiggle room and have to be sharper from this point forward."
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