Roos Women’s Soccer

UMKC women’s soccer team

The UMKC women’s soccer team had their second draw of the season as they held Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) to a 0-0 result in a chilly afternoon conference game last Thursday.

Despite repeated pressure in the first half, the Roos slowly gained momentum and by overtime were unfortunate not to record their second victory. The Roos are now 1-14-2 (0-6-2). IPFW junior Felicia Jones gave the Roos all sorts of problems early and even put the ball in the net in the 13th minute, but the goal was disallowed due to an offside call.

“Their strikers were really dynamic,” Head Coach Anita Rodriguez said. “We made an adjustment and gave them a little more space so they wouldn’t turn on us and run.”

The adjustment worked because aside from a few lapses late in regulation, the Roos defense protected the goal and allowed only five shots on frame.

The Mastodons’ best chances came with about 10 minutes left in regulation. One play ended with the ball being shot directly at sophomore goalkeeper Jami Finnell from close range for an easy save. Two minutes later, Finnell was forced to extend and push a looping shot just over the bar and out for a corner.

“We had talked about staying with our marks tighter because we had been giving them a lot of space,” Finnell said. “We really fixed that error. We are staying with them a lot better.”

Sophomore forward Meagan Shipley and freshman midfielder Jordan Andrzejewski gave UMKC a spark off the bench as both players were effective enough at the end of the first half to warrant significant playing time the rest of the game. They both recorded a shot on goal and breathed life into a typically stagnant attack.

“[Jordan and Shipley] gave us a lot of spitfire today,” Rodriguez said. “I think those kids sparked us.”

Shipley was especially effective to start the second half, causing IPFW to chase her on the wing and forcing the match’s first save.

“If you’re coming off the bench, you need to play with a lot of heart and play really hard,” Shipley said. “Just for your teammates. Get them going and try to light a little fire.”

The Roos best chance came in the final minute of regulation as Andrzejewski and sophomore winger Zaina Mayer put together some solid passing before an accurate feed to freshman striker Taylor Bare was put over the cross bar. Bare dropped to the ground in anguish, knowing a dramatic game-winner was just missed.

“It was just the heat of the moment,” Bare said. “I just wanted to score so bad and I just rushed. I cut under the ball. I got too far back and it went flying. I was just upset because I knew that was our chance to score.”

UMKC outplayed IPFW in both overtimes as their confidence and patience increased. As they pushed forward more, the Mastodons became more defensive.

“They were pretty organized,” Rodriguez said. “The second that we can get them to push everybody up when we win possession, we’re able to stay in the game. When we stay defensive and drop off, it doesn’t help. That was our plan coming into this game, just get everyone forward.”

This week the women are moving forward to the Summit League semi-finals.

eringler@unews.com

Correction

A mistake was added to Elijah Ringler’s “Roos Women’s Soccer” story in issue 11. The end of the article said the women were moving forward to the Summit League semi-finals.

This information was incorrect and is the fault of the Sports Editor as it was added without knowledge of Ringler. Bryce and the U-News staff strive for absolute accuracy every time. We apologize.

kbryce@unews.com