University of North Florida
Furman University
Ospreys Fall to Furman
9/6/2009 3:21:49 PM | Women's Soccer
JU Invitational Photos
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Sophomore Vladana Petricevic scored her first career goal as an Osprey in today's finale at the Jacksonville University Invitational against the Furman Paladins. But the goal would not be enough as UNF loses its third game of the season, 3-1 and had a 1-1 overall record at the JU Invitational.
“Furman played well,” said Head Coach Linda Hamilton. “They played tough and put us under some pressure and caused us to come out of our game a little bit. We are a young team and we are still learning. Our goal from the beginning has been to win every game. We need this time to start working out the kinks so when conference play rolls around we feel really sharp and ready. I think this was just another great lesson for us.”
Just before the start of the second half senior Lauren Maze showed tremendous effort as she collided head-to-head with Furman's player while battling for ball position. She would return in the second half after trainers saw to her cuts.
“I wanted to test the keeper, I lofted up the ball trying to set up my other players and it dropped in for the goal,” said midfielder Petricevic after the game.
Martha Hall, for Furman, was able to keep senior goalkeeper Rachael Howard busy on the left side scoring three goals at the Ashley Soccer Complex on JU's campus.
Furman was able to pressure the Ospreys' by passing diagonal balls to the left side switching up UNF's defensive schemes.
“They had a game plan and got it done and to our detriment we allowed their game to take us out of ours,” said Hamilton. “I think the last 15 or 12 minutes I got a real sense that if we played the whole game like this we might have had a different chance. We have to take these games as lessons learned as we move into conference play.”
UNF had a few chances to trip up the Paladins' defense but couldn't get into their groove and put together a series of touch passes.
The Ospreys will have two matches next week as they trip to Boca Raton, Fla. to play intra-state rivals Florida Atlantic (Sept. 11) and Florida International (Sept. 13) in Miami.
