Jacksonville University’s penalty kick snapped the Ospreys three-game winning streak on Saturday night, at Hodges Stadium.
Last season, UNF fell to the Dolphins in the River City Rumble and in a dramatic Atlantic Sun Quarterfinals. Jacksonville leads the all-time series and has not been beaten in the last nine games against UNF.
The game got off to a rusty start for both teams. In the entire first half, North Florida (4-4-2 overall, 0-1 ASUN) shot the ball 9 times, but only managed to get 3 shots on goal.
With a scoreless first half in the books, neither squad could capitalize opportunities before going into the break.
It wasn’t until the 74th minute that freshman midfielder Maya Fischer scored her first goal of the season to give the Dolphins (3-6 overall, 1-0 ASUN) a 1-0 edge.
“It [the penalty kick] ended up working really well,” Fischer said. “I didn’t actually think it was going to go in at that point, but it got that perfect little touch on the post and it did go in so it was really exciting for everyone.”
In the end, the Ospreys managed to create many scoring opportunities, but couldn’t seem to get the ball in the net. In the 85th minute, UNF’s Alexis Bredeau had a shot that hit the crossbar that would have tied the game.
North Florida had 19 total shots with seven on goal compared to Jacksonville’s 12 total shots with six on goal.
However, Jacksonville junior keeper Sara Wicks stood strong and finished the match with 7 saves. The defensive effort earned the Dolphins the 1-0 victory over the Ospreys.
North Florida women’s soccer coach Robin Confer had no regrets after the final whistle.
“We played great. We defended well, we created chances, we were the better team,” Confer said. “That’s the cruel thing about soccer sometimes is that you can be a better team, out shoot, out corner and come out on the losing end.”
The UNF women’s soccer team will next host Kennesaw State on Sept. 30.
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