SAN ANTONIO, Texas - The Berry College women's soccer team fell short in a hard-fought contest against the Trinity University Tigers 1-0 on Friday evening at Paul McGinlay Field.
Berry moves to 8-5 (3-2 SAA) on the season, while Trinity remains undefeated at 10-0-1.
Looking to spark an upset against the reigning SAA champions, the Vikings came out hungry and on the attack to start the game. They controlled possession throughout most of the opening minutes, and got their first shot of the game from Giselle Aitken at 5:06 but missed wide right.Â
Gianna Maimone gave the team another chance to strike first 11 minutes later, but her shot also went wide.Â
In the 18th minute, the Tigers ended the stalemate. Madisyn Barganski slipped by the defense, and sent the ball into the back of the net thanks to a great pass from Alex Doran.
The Vikings spent the rest of the half looking for the equalizer. Maimone got a quality look to do so in the 26th minute, but was denied by Trinity Jefferson to keep it a 1-0 game. For the rest of the half, Kate Hill and the defense stepped up with multiple stops to ensure it stayed a one-goal game at halftime.Â
In the second half, the Tigers kept looking for opportunities to pull away. They outshot Berry 10-2 in the second half and had three corner kicks, but Hill made three pivotal saves to keep the Vikings in the game.Â
Their best chance to tie the game came in the final 15 minutes. Sienna Christensen's shot in the 77th minute missed high to the right, and in the 81st minute, Lyndi Voyvodic forced a turnover and fired a shot that got past Jefferson but just missed wide right.Â
Trinity looked to have scored a second, game-sealing goal with just 6:37 remaining, but it was waved off due to an offsides penalty to give Berry some life. However, the Tigers killed the remaining game time to secure the win.
Despite the loss, the Vikings hung around with the lone undefeated team in the SAA. The Tigers won the shot battle 24-5, including 8-1 in shots on goal. Barganski led the way with the game's only goal on three shots. Maimone led Berry in shots with two.
Between the goalkeepers, Jefferson got the shutout win but Hill had another fantastic game with seven saves.
The Vikings look to bounce back on Sunday, October 18 against Southwestern. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m.
