PEPPER PIKE, Ohio -- The Lake Erie women's soccer team took a short drive to Ursuline on Thursday afternoon and came away with a 2-1 victory. Ainsley MacKenzie gave the Storm an early boost with a goal just under the three-minute mark, followed by Isabella Carvalho's fourth score of the season, putting Lake Erie up 2-0 by halftime. The Arrows made things interesting in the second period with a late goal, but the Storm defense held strong to secure their sixth win of the season – matching the combined total from the past two years. At 6-1-2 overall and 3-0-2 in G-MAC play (third place in the conference), Lake Erie will look to stay hot when they travel to Kentucky to face Thomas More this Saturday.
Game Recap
The first shot from either side came at 2:51, when senior Ainsley MacKenzie fired her 11th shot of the season and buried it past the outstretched arms of the Ursuline goalkeeper. The Arrows nearly answered immediately, but Morgan Vanmeter stepped up to deny the chance. Later in the half, the Storm doubled their lead when Carvalho continued her impressive freshman campaign with a goal at the 31-minute mark, sending Lake Erie into the break up 2-0.
Despite generating seven shots in the second half — more than their total from the previous game (a 1-1 tie vs. Walsh) — Lake Erie couldn't add another score. On the other side, Ursuline managed five looks and finally broke through to make it 2-1, but that was all the Storm defense allowed. Through nine games this season, Lake Erie has given up just six goals. For context: across the program's 26 years (463 games) entering this season, the fewest goals allowed in any nine-game stretch was eight (1998 and 2016). The Storm are truly putting together a historic run.
Another notable stat: Lake Erie's 4-0-1 road record already tops the total road wins from 2020–2024 combined (3-34-3 over five seasons). In conference play, they need just one more victory to equal the win total from those same five years (four).
One area the Storm haven't excelled in is drawing corner kicks. Despite owning the third-best record in the conference, they rank 10th in corners earned — ahead of only Malone (3-4-1), Tiffin (1-5-1), and Thomas More (3-6), all teams below .500.
Individual Highlights in G-MAC Play
The Matchup
After dropping both matchups to Ursuline last season by one goal each, Lake Erie returned the favor with Thursday's one-goal win. The Storm will look to continue chipping away at their 6-15-1 all-time record against the Arrows when they meet again in the regular-season finale on November 4 in Painesville.
Looking Ahead
The Storm aim to pick up their first-ever win over Thomas More when they visit the Saints on Saturday, October 4, at 1 p.m. Defensively, they'll focus on slowing sophomore forward #5 Ivy Hoffman, who has accounted for three of Thomas More's 11 goals. Offensively, it remains to be seen who the Saints start in goal, as they've started four different keepers this season. After the trip to Kentucky, Lake Erie will play four of its next five games at home.
