WATERLOO, Ont. – The Laurier Golden Hawks suffered their first loss of the season Friday night under the lights, falling 4-1 to the No. 6-ranked Guelph Griffins at Ansley Alumni Field.
Guelph applied pressure throughout the opening half, but Laurier goalkeeper
Mya Brodrecht made several early saves to keep the game scoreless.
The Gryphons eventually broke through in the 25th minute when Olivia Mills finished off a corner to take a 1-0 lead.
The visitors doubled their advantage in the 35th minute when Ella Cahill found the back of the net, sending Laurier into halftime trailing 2-0.
The Golden Hawks looked to respond early in the second half, with
Taya Johnson missing just wide right of the net in the 50th minute.
Guelph answered three minutes later when Olivia Rizakos scored to extend the lead to 3-0.
Laurier kept fighting and was rewarded in the 76th minute. Captain
Ashley Greco converted a beautiful free kick into the upper-left corner to cut the deficit to 3-1. The goal was Greco's fifth of the season, putting her at the top of the OUA goalscoring leaderboard.
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Brodrecht continued to turn away Guelph opportunities late in the match, but the Gryphons were able to get one more by her to add a fourth goal in stoppage time to secure the 4-1 victory.
After the game, when Greco was asked her thoughts on how the team competed, she said, "The first half was a little shaky … but we talked about it at half-time, and I thought we came out in the second half with a lot more fight as we played more compact and shifted well, and we took care of their clinical players on ball, but definitely could be a lot better."
Although disappointed about how "mentally prepared" the team was in the first half of the game, head coach
Barry MacLean was proud of how his team came out in the second half.
"I like that we finished better than we started and that we ramped up the competitive level. We won a lot more challenges in the midfield, and we created some more chances going forward, but overall, there's a lot of work to do."Â
This first loss of the season puts Laurier's record at 3-1 on the campaign.
Up Next:
The Golden Hawks travel to Windsor on Sunday to face the Lancers for the second and final time this regular season.
Kick-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Alumni Field. Catch the action live on OUA.tv.
