Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Memphis
Women's Soccer Falls Short Against Memphis, 2-1
10/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 23, 2009
HUNTINGTON, W.Va.- Marshall University's Angela DeSumma (Doylestown, Pa.) tallied her third goal of the season but it wasn't enough to overcome Ashley Berra's (Cordova, Tenn.) two first half goals as Memphis goes on to beat the Herd 2-1, in Friday night's C-USA women's soccer match at Sam Hood Field.
MU drops its fourth straight to fall to 11-6 (4-5 C-USA), while Memphis has won five of its last six to improve to 12-5 (7-2 C-USA) and increase its all-time series lead to 5-0 over the Thundering Herd.
Berra entered the weekend ranked tied 29th nationally in goals per game, and tallied two on the night to bring her season total to 13. Her goal came on the first shot of the game, just 2:41 into the match. Taylor Isenhower (Lenexa, Kan.) curved a through ball past Herd defenders to find Berra who placed a shot above goalkeeper Liz Orton (Ft. Collins, Colo.).
Berra tallied her second goal of the game in the 31st minute off a through ball from Brittany Baldwin (Collierville, Tenn.), to give Memphis a 2-0 lead.
Marshall's DeSumma was quick to answer, ripping a spectacular shot from 35-yards out past goalkeeper Kuhar-Pitters to bring the herd within one.
MU had a chance to tie the match with just under three minutes left in the first half. Megan Tabler (Ashland, Ky.) and Erika Duncan (Easthaven, Scotland) combined for a give-and-go which found Duncan one-on-one with Kuhar-Pitters, but the Memphis goalie came up with the save.
The Herd had one final chance to tie the game with under a minute left in regulation as DeSumma dribbled to the right of two defenders and sent a missile from just inside the 18-yard box, however, Elise Kuhar-Pitters (Spokane, Wash.) made a diving save to tip the ball out of bounds and solidify the win for the Tigers.
"It was good to see that we started to play like we've played all season long but unfortunately it didn't show on the scoreboard tonight," head coach Kevin Long said. "We have a big game on Sunday and we need to come out and get a win."
Marshall will conclude its weekend with a 1 p.m. Sunday match against UAB at Sam Hood Field.
