The Chattanooga women’s soccer team outshot Mercer 24-10 Thursday night in a tightly contested road match, but fell 2-0 to the Bears on two second half goals in Southern Conference action.
“Tough loss to take,” Mocs head coach Gavin McKinney said. “I thought we were the dominant side and did many things at a high level. Unfortunately, the results haven’t been going our way recently, but it’s up to us to change that in our final five matches. The group is more than capable, and we’ll continue to push forward.”
Chattanooga controlled much of the first half and outshot Mercer 11-5. The second was much the same with UTC posting a 13-5 shots advantage. However, the Bears found the net twice in the half for the win.
The first goal came in the 63rd minute. Sara Engels picked up a pass just outside the penalty area and lofted her shot to the top middle of the goal for the score. The second was a penalty kick by Larkin Thomason after a yellow on the Mocs in the box.
Caroline Richvalsky, surrounded by at least four defenders throughout the match, fired off a career-high nine shots with five on goal, also a career-best. At the 76 minute mark, Richvalsky’s shot from distance was saved on a dive by the Mercer keeper. She got three more shots in the final three minutes of the match but was unable to get past the Mercer defense.
Zoey Mize had four shots, two on goal and Clarissa Salinas added three more for Chattanooga. The Chattanooga defense held off the Bears for much of the game, allowing just four shots on goal in 10 attempts. Caroline Ekern notched two saves in 90 minutes in goal.
Abbey Marak’s attempt in the 51st minute crossed the box and hit off the crossbar on the far side over the keeper outstretched hand as the Mocs best chance for a score.
Chattanooga returns home to host ETSU Sunday evening at Finley Stadium for its annual Pink Game. The Chattanooga Football Club (CFC) is hosting NY Red Bulls II at 1:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon for a non-traditional doubleheader.
The Mocs fall to 2-7-3 overall and 1-3 in league play while Mercer improves to 8-3-2 on the year and 2-1-1 against the conference.
Chattanooga’s match against ETSU is slated for a 5:00 p.m. start. Follow all the action online at GoMocs.com.