TicketsSept. 23, 2011
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The University of Cincinnati women's soccer team fell to Providence College 2-0 Friday afternoon at Glay Field.
Cincinnati (5-4-2, 1-2-0 BIG EAST) lost to the Friars despite holding a 9-7 advantage in shot attempts. Additionally, the Bearcats took 10 corner kicks compared to just one from Providence.
"It's uncharacteristic of us not to have double-digit shot attempts," said UC head coach Michelle Salmon. "I don't anticipate it happening again. I know we're better than how we played today. You can't take anything away from Providence because they executed very well."
Providence (4-3-4, 2-1-0 BIG EAST) senior midfielder Laura DiClemente produced the only two goals of the match for either team.
In the 65th minute, DiClemente scored her first goal to give the Friars a 1-0 lead. DiClemente took a pass from PC senior forward Cynthia Warman from 15 yards out and connected on a shot past UC freshman goalkeeper Kristina Utley (Castro Valley, Calif./Castro Valley).
The Friars added their second goal with five minutes remaining in the second half. Providence senior forward Taylor Bartini sent a pass to DiClemente at the top left corner of the box. DiClemente nailed a shot from 30 yards out to pull away from Cincinnati 2-0.
Utley finished the match with three saves, while her counterpart, PC goalkeeper Caitlin Walker, recorded five saves.
Sophomore forward Jazmine Rhodes (Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Polytechnic) led the Bearcat attack with two shot attempts, both of which were on goal. Senior forward Logan Ballinger (Cincinnati, Ohio/Seton) also had two shot attempts.
Cincinnati and Providence went into halftime deadlocked at no score. In the first stanza, UC had multiple opportunities to build an early lead. The Bearcats held a 6-0 advantage in corner kicks out-shot the Friars 3-2.
"We came out flat and without a sense of urgency to take the lead and Providence capitalized on our mistakes," Salmon said. "We have the ability, but we lacked the need sense of urgency and passion early on. Today we didn't execute our game plan until the final minutes of the second half."
The Bearcats will look to bounce back when they play University of Connecticut at 1 p.m. Sunday at Morrone Stadium in Storrs, Conn.