NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Huskies had multiple near misses but were unable to find the net as the HBU women's soccer team came up short in a 1-0 overtime loss against the Belmont Bruins on Thursday afternoon at E.S. Rose Park.
The host Bruins (2-3) nearly found the net in the 13
th minute on a Leah Firsdon shot to the top left corner but HBU (0-4) keeper
Karla Ramirez made a leaping save to keep things scoreless. The next attempt on target came more than 15 minutes later, this time with the Huskies'
Katie Marker found open space outside the 18 yard box and took aim but her shot was knocked over the crossbar by Belmont's airborne keeper. In the final three minutes of the half, Ramirez twice more had to leave her feet to make stops and send the game into the half at 0-0.
The offense in the second half really picked up in the final 20 minutes with both teams putting three shots on their opponents' goals in that timeframe. HBU's
Bryce Reynolds tried to sneak a shot through near the back post off a corner but was denied with less than 18 minutes to go. Ramirez came up with three more saves in the final 13 minutes and Marker came very close to knocking home a header off a
Mia Salas corner kick with just 40 seconds to play but a Belmont defender kept it from crossing the line into the goal.
In overtime, the Huskies earned a corner kick early in the 94
th minute but were unable to get a shot off. Then, just a few minutes later at the 96:52 mark the Bruins found the game-winner off a corner with a header by Rachel Vernon just crossing the line before being cleared out.
Belmont finished with a 14-6 advantage in shot attempts on the Huskies with six on goal to HBU's four. HBU, meanwhile, earned nine corners to the Bruins' eight. In goal, Ramirez ended the day with six saves.
The Huskies will remain in the greater Nashville area for their next game, facing Middle Tennessee on Sunday, Sep. 5, afternoon in Murfreesboro at 1:00 p.m.
