Kaitlyn Butts races Rollins’ Jill Richards to the ball in Sunday’s 1-0 loss
The Lee Lady Flames completed their opening weekend with a 1-0 loss to Rollins College, who had received votes in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll. Lee (1-1) began the weekend with a 4-3 upset of No. 13 North Georgia Friday evening.
The Tars (1-1) tallied the lone goal of the match in the 59th minute.
Yaya Mbengue gathered a pass from Karina Santin inside the goal box and slipped it over the line.
"Rollins is a good team," admitted Lee head coach Chris Hennessey. "They do the basics really well, they keep passing and commit to passing. They were tactically very organized and did what they needed to do, go home with a split for the weekend"
Lee outshot Rollins by an 18-15 margin, but Rollins placed nine shots on goal to Lee's seven. Both sides took eight corner kicks.
Haley Gribler recorded eight saves in the loss. Kelly Roswell stopped all seven shots she faced in the shutout win.
"Today, we didn't play like a team," added Hennessey. "We played like 11 individuals on the field and didn't play our game. At any point today we never made more than three passes in any phase of play. That's on us as a team. We are a really talented team and a loss hurts. We didn't deserve to win today because we didn't trust each other and we didn't commit to our identity and do what we do best."
The Lady Flames look to get back on track with a trip to Mobile, Ala., to face Spring Hill College on Friday, Sept. 8. The non-conference match is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.