LEBANON, Tenn. – Eastern Oregon (RV) Women's Soccer suffered its first loss of the preseason Wednesday afternoon, falling 2-0 to No. 20 Cumberland University to open its southern trip.
Playing through hot temperatures and scheduled water breaks, the Mountaineers battled the Phoenix throughout the afternoon but ultimately came up short. Eastern controlled much of the opening half, outshooting Cumberland 9-6, while goalkeeper
Elysa Morse made two saves to keep the match scoreless heading into halftime.
Cumberland broke through less than a minute into the second half. Phoenix forward Victoria Collins challenged for a ball as Morse came out of the box to clear it, but Collins reached the ball first and fired a shot into the net to give Cumberland an early 1-0 advantage. The Phoenix nearly doubled their lead five minutes later when Collins found space for another attempt, but her shot rolled just wide of the net.
Eastern responded with several opportunities of its own.
Peyton Jacaway played a pass through the middle to
Ava Henkemeyer, whose initial shot was deflected by a Cumberland defender. Henkemeyer quickly followed with another opportunity, firing a shot from just outside the penalty box that struck the crossbar.
The Mountaineers continued to pressure the Phoenix throughout the half, adding six more shots while holding Cumberland to just four second-half attempts. With just three minutes remaining, however, a foul gave Cumberland possession near midfield. The Phoenix chipped the ball over the Eastern defense and worked it toward the corner before sending a pass back into the middle. An EOU defensive miscue allowed the ball to fall back to Collins, who capitalized on the opportunity and placed a shot into the top-right corner to extend Cumberland's lead to 2-0. The Phoenix held on through the final minutes to hand Eastern its first preseason loss.
With the loss, the Mountaineers move to 2-1 in preseason play. Eastern Oregon will continue its southern trip Saturday, Sept. 5, traveling to (RV) University of Tennessee Southern. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. CT.
