Women's Soccer Falls Just Short in 2-1 Loss to Jacksonville

Friday, October 21

Jacksonville, Fla.

7 pm

University of North Florida

Jacksonville

Photo by: JD Hysler

10/21/2011 9:55:00 PM | Women's Soccer

By: UNF Athletics

Complete Box Score

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A late goal from junior forward Michele Larrinaga wasn't quite enough to grab a point for the University of North Florida women's soccer team, as they fell to Jacksonville 2-1 on Friday evening.

“It's an unfortunate result for us,” Head Coach Linda Hamilton said, “We played a very good JU team and probably didn't take advantage of as many chances as we should have.”

From the start, the Ospreys sought to play through balls to their forwards, while JU aimed to control possession in the midfield. Sophomore forward Lauren Hopfensperger almost put UNF on the board early, as she grabbed a pass and fired a 1-on-1 shot that JU goalkeeper Sarah Sierra was just able to parry away for a cornerkick.

Kaitlyn Bassett broke through for the Dolphins in the 30th minute, when the UNF defense couldn't quite clear a cross out of the box. Bassett jumped on a deflected attempt and poked the ball just inside the left post to put JU up 1-0.

The Dolphins outshot UNF 9-3 in the first half, though most of the attempts were from far outside the penalty area. Sophomore goalkeeper Megan Dorsey made four first-half saves to maintain the 1-0 deficit into the break.

After halftime, the Ospreys pushed farther forward on their attack, tallying three shots within the first two minutes of play, including a strike from Hopfensperger that struck the left post and bounced away.

In the 53rd minute, however, fortune turned on UNF. JU junior Eva Leeper collected a pass from Liz Fink and fired a shot from around roughly 20 yards that was deflected over Dorsey's hands and into the net to give the Dolphins a 2-0 advantage.

Despite the setback, the Ospreys continued to push forward, outshooting JU 12-5 and getting shots from eight different players in the second half. UNF found the woodwork for a second time in the 60th minute, when freshman midfielder Jill Holdsworth drilled the crossbar from 25 yards.

In the 85th minute, Larrinaga gave UNF new life with her fourth goal of the season. Hopfensperger started the play, taking her defender deep into the box before hitting a low pass across the goal from the right side. Larrinaga collected the pass with her back to the goal, turned her defender and fired a left-footed shot past Sierra to cut the Dolphins' lead to 2-1.

A frantic final five minutes saw two more shots from the Ospreys, but no goals as the loss dropped UNF to 8-9-2 for the regular season, including a 4-4-1 conference record. Jacksonville finishes at 11-5-2 and 7-1-1 in league play.

“It's a tough loss, especially against a big rival,” Hamilton said. “But now we have to focus on next weekend and put it behind us.”

UNF is next in action on Saturday in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament quarterfinals. The Ospreys' opponent and the location of their opening-round match will be determined on Sunday afternoon as the remainder of the Atlantic Sun finishes up conference play.