Defiance struggles with Engineers plan of attack, fall 3-0

TERRA HAUTE, Ind. – The Yellow Jacket women's soccer team dropped to 3-8-2 (0-2-1 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference), after they lost to the Rose-Hulman Fightin' Engineers, 3-0, on Saturday, October 12. RHIT improves to 7-2-4 (3-0 HCAC).

DC grabbed the first shot of the day, less than one minute into play, but the Fightin Engineers struck first in the match. Rose's Rachel Johnstone notched her first goal of the season only 5:14 into action on a pass from Haley O'Neil that put the home team up 1-0.

The Jackets struggled to get anything going on the offensive end, as the RHIT attack dominated ball control throughout much of the first period. The Engineers racked up nine shots (four on goal), with five corner kicks. DC on the other hand, was held to five shots (three on goal), with two corners.

Both sides couldn't knock any other shots in the net, and the two squads went into intermission with a score of 1-0.

Unfortunately, things didn't get much better for the Purple and Gold in the second period. Rose came out firing early on and extended its lead to 2-0 on a goal from O'Neil.

Defiance was able to get things going at the offensive end, as it racked up six of the next eight shots in the match. However, the RHIT held strong and kept DC out of the net.

The Fightin' Engineers then sealed the match, with a third goal at the 79:40 mark. Rose's O'Neil knocked in her second score of the day, after flicking the ball over the keeper and into the corner.

The Yellow Jackets sophomore Megan Redick (Lima, Ohio/Shawnee) led the squad with six shots, five of which were on target. Junior Lindsay Bubick (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler) finished second with three.

On the afternoon, the RHIT notched 17 shots (10 on goal), to edge DC 13 (nine on goal).

The Purple and Gold will return home for its next match on Tuesday, October 15, when it will battle the Spartans of Manchester. The match is slated for 2 pm out at Winsper-Knobel Memorial Field.