October 22, 2023 – Emporia State fell behind briefly in the second half but rallied for a 2-1 win over Central Oklahoma on Sunday afternoon.
In the first half, both the Hornets and Bronchos struggled to generate many attacking opportunities as both teams recorded just four shots and two attempts on goal before halftime.
Emporia State tallied their first two attempts within the first four minutes, with shots from
Kyleigh Roe and
Hannah Woolery. Shots from
Paige Putter and
Mackenzie Dimarco would come later in the half, but Emporia State remained deadlocked with Central Oklahoma 0-0 heading into the halftime break.
Following the halftime break, Central Oklahoma came out as the aggressor, outshooting the Hornets 4-0 in the first 11 minutes with the fourth opportunity resulting in a goal. The
Bronchos scored on a breakaway goal in the 57
th minute to take a 1-0 lead over Emporia State.
The Hornets took little time to respond as they took the ensuing kickoff and immediately pressured the Bronchos. The pressure paid off for Emporia State as
Hannah Woolery found an opening to score the first goal for the Hornets as they tied the game less than a minute after conceding the opening goal.
Over the next ten minutes, both teams recorded just one shot before Emporia State found the breakthrough goal to take a 2-1 lead.
Emporia State gained possession in the Central Oklahoma half of the field and played a long ball into the box. The Bronchos were unable to clear the ball and the ball fell to
Haley Sparks who fired a left-footed shot into the bottom right corner as Emporia State took the lead with just over 20 minutes remaining.
The Hornets withstood two more shots over the final 20 minutes as they closed out the 2-1 win over the Bronchos on Sunday afternoon.
As a team, the Hornets were outshot 11-7 but recorded five shots on goal to just four from the Bronchos.
Hannah Woolery scored her third goal of the season and
Haley Sparks scored her second of the season.
Emporia State advances to 7-5-4 on the season and 6-2-1 in the MIAA.
