Last minute goal helps Engineers defeat Belles
By SARAH RYKOWSKI
Sports Writer
The match-up between the Saint Mary's and the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Sunday was a fight to the finish, with Rose-Hulman winning 1-0.
"We played great," Belles coach Jason Milligan said. "It's the best I've seen the girls play all year."
The Belles dominated the game, controlling the ball for the duration, but came away with a heartbreaking loss. With two minutes remaining in the scoreless contest, Rose-Hulman freshman Jessica Farmer finally succeeded in finding the net for the Engineers, putting them up 1-0 to take the win.
"I thought Rose was pretty fortunate," Engineers head coach Greg Ruark said. "We had to withstand a lot of pressure from the Belles. A draw might have been more fair. I thought Saint Mary's was the better team."
The Belles were prolific on the offense, taking 24 shots and keeping the play in the Engineers' zone for most of the match.
"Their keeper was very good, but we kept shooting," Milligan said. "We hit everything but net."
Meg Lyman, in her first season in net for the Engineers, stopped 12 of those 24 shots. Tia Kapphahn, junior co-captain, making her third start in goal for the Belles, stopped 10 of the Engineers' 13 shots. The Belles made two team saves in addition to the 10 by Kapphahn.
"I thought Tia played well all weekend," Milligan said.
The rest of the team did their part to keep Saint Mary's in the game, and on the ball. Heather Muth, a sophomore co-captain for the Belles, led the team with 7 shots, while sophomore Lynn Taylor and freshman Stephanie Artnak were close behind with four each.
"I thought that we had a really good game," senior Laura Paulen said. "We moved the ball well and took a lot of shots. It was disappointing that we lost when we outplayed the other team."
The Belles forced 10 corner kicks while Rose took only one. The Belles kept control of the ball with short passes and controlled traps.
"Our combination play worked really well," Milligan said. "It's the best I've seen it all year."
The tight loss to the Engineers was a far cry from the blow out the Belles suffered at the hands of the nationally-ranked DePauw Tigers. The Belles allowed seven goals and were shut out. The first period was especially rough for the Belles as they gave up six goals in the first 45 minutes.
"Of course you don't like to lose," Milligan said. "But playing against DePauw was a great experience for us."
Every time the Belles would generate some offense, the Tigers would quickly roar to life and shut them down.
"We haven't played a team that good," Milligan said. "They had a great defense. But I was happy with how we played."
"I thought the second half was well-played," Milligan said. "We settled down a bit. Our decision-making was much better. Off-the-ball movement has improved."
In the second half, the Belles fought back as co-captain Katy Robinson managed three shots.
"I thought they played hard to the end," said John Carter, DePauw's head coach. "They never quit. They have good players and great organization. We just played really well today. I look forward to playing with them in the future."
Kapphahn stood between the posts for the Belles, logging 15 saves against 30 Tiger shots.
"I think that the DePauw game gave us a good idea of a level of play that we can strive to achieve, and how far we need to go," Paulen said. "Now we're looking ahead to our conference games."
"I was especially proud of the ladies' attitudes through the whole weekend," Milligan said. "They never got down. We believe in what we are doing, and where we are going. We are taking the steps we need to get there."
All Sports Stories for Monday, September 11, 2000
