TMU Women's Soccer suffers narrow loss to Southeastern (Fla.)

The Master's University women's soccer team battled against powerhouse Southeastern University (Fla.) on the road, but the Fire capitalized on a defensive miscue in the 80th minute to defeat the Mustangs, 1-0.
 
"It was a quality game against a top team," Master's head coach Curtis Lewis said. "I thought in the first half we played really well. In the second half, we had some tired legs after three games in six days, so we succumbed to a few more shots. I still think we played very well. I'm very proud of our girls."
 
Master's (1-2-1) outshot Southeastern (13-0-1) in the first half, 7-6. The Mustangs came closest to scoring in the 23rd minute, when TMU almost caught the Fire off-guard from a short corner kick. Payton Williams' ball across the face of goal just evaded on-rushing Mustangs before going out of play.
 
In the 36th minute, Kate Lawrence found Elizabeth Radmilovich behind Southeastern's defense near the corner of the six-yard box, but Radmilovich's shot was saved by the Fire goalkeeper.
 
Three minutes later, the Mustangs pounced on a poor clearance, but Hannah Burke's shot from outside the 18 sailed just over the crossbar.
 
In the second half, the Fire ramped up its offensive pressure, recording 11 shots compared to the Mustangs' two. Mostly, TMU's defense held firm.
 
"Our back line did some really good stuff," Lewis said. "We were organized, we were tough and stepped well. We pressed when we possessed out of the back."
 
However, in the 80th minute Southeastern finally broke the deadlock, finding the back of the net against the previously impenetrable Master's defense.
 
Off a goal kick, the ball inadvertently ricocheted off a Mustang defender, which sent the Fire through on goal to put the home side ahead.
 
From that point on, Southeastern preserved its shutout by preventing TMU from recording a shot.
 
With the loss, Master's now holds a record of 1-2-1 on the year. Southeastern, which has reached the NAIA National Tournament semifinals in each of the past two seasons, improves to 13-0-1.
 
Anay Garcia, a defender who has become the team's emergency goalkeeper because of injury, recorded a career-high nine saves in just her fourth career start between the posts.
 
"Overall I'm very pleased with our girls," Lewis said. "We went out there; we said we wanted to honor the Lord; we wanted to improve and put a complete game together. I think we did that. I think we're going in the right direction. If we can continue to be tenacious and play the way that we're playing, we can have a very good season."
 
Master's will complete its four-game road trip against St. Thomas (Fla.) on Monday morning. Kickoff in Lakeland, Fla. is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. EST / 8:00 a.m. PST.