MENTOR, Ohio -- This Saturday, the Lake Erie women's soccer team hosted Cedarville, one of the top teams in the G-MAC, losing the competition 1-0. The Storm drop to 2-10-1 on the year.
Game Recap
The Storm knew they were in for a fight against the Yellow Jackets, and a fight is what they got. The teams appeared evenly-matched in many aspects and energy was high from start to finish on both sides. The key takeaway from this game is that Cedarville dominated on shots-attempted, boasting a 18-5 edge on Lake Erie. This differential was too much for the Storm to handle, and the Yellow Jackets would walk out a winner, as their goal in the 38th minute proved to be all she wrote.
An interesting note is that Lake Erie continues to be extremely efficient at making their opportunities count, as all five of their shots required saving, emphasizing the fact that although they were greatly out-shot, they nearly had more shots-on-goal (7-5). Their patience and selectiveness near enemy goals has great merit, and it's a shame they weren't rewarded accordingly.
Ainsley MacKenzie attempted two shots in the match, with the remaining three shots going to
Emily Ngo,
Brinlee Youngen, and
Kim Lorenz. Goalkeeper
Morgan Vanmeter added six more saves to from the contest to her G-MAC lead.
The Matchup
Since first meeting in 2017, the Storm remain win-less against Cedarville, as Saturday's loss moves the all-time record to 0-11 against the Yellow Jackets. In their previous matchup this year, the score remained knotted at 0-0 until the 86th minute when Cedarville converted in shocking fashion. The Storm will have to wait until 2025 to start moving the needle in their favor.
Looking Ahead
The Storm will play once again at Mentor High School when Northwood comes to town on Thursday at 1pm before returning back to Jack Britt for Ashland next Saturday and Tiffin the following Thursday. Northwood remains undefeated on the year, entering the contest with a 8-0-5 record, good for second in the G-MAC. Since losing their first game of the season against #7 ranked Grand Valley State, Ashland has responded with a record of 10-0-1, climbing to the #4 spot in DII. Their one tie actually came against Northwood. These teams will be tough matchups for the Storm, but withering them brings up the Tiffin Dragons who have had an underwhelming season thus far, highlighted by their 1-10-2 record. Their lone win came nearly a month ago when they bested Thomas More 3-2.
