October 25, 2024 – Emporia State held 1-0 and 2-1 leads on Friday night against the Lopers, but were unable to hold off Nebraska-Kearney, falling 3-2 on the road.
The first half featured four goals in a 15-minute span, with both goals for Emporia State coming directly from a corner kick. The Hornets registered the only shot in the early stages before taking the lead in the 15th minute. A corner kick taken by
Madeline Bracy found
Mikhaela Goen at the near post to give Emporia State the 1-0 lead. Directly following the opening goal, a long shot by the Lopers in the 16th brought the score back level 1-1.
After just six minutes, Emporia State earned their second corner, which quickly became their second goal of the match. On the opposite side of the field from the first corner,
Abby Bachman took this one which found the head of
Ruby Ryan, who scored the first goal of her career. After the goal from Ryan, Nebraska-Kearney took just eight minutes to respond, tying the score 2-2 in the 30th minute.
Over the final 15 minutes in the first half, just one shot was tallied by both teams as the score remained 2-2 into the halftime break.
In the first half, the Hornets outshot the Lopers 4-3 and earned five corners to just one for the hosts.
Emporia State dealt with pressure from the Lopers out of the halftime break, as the first three shots of the half went to Nebraska-Kearney, with the third of the half proving to be the difference in the match. Following a throw-in deep in the Hornets' half of the field, the Lopers created a chance that found the bottom left corner to put the hosts ahead 3-2 in the 63rd minute.
With just under 30 minutes remaining in the match, the Hornets attempted to comeback, recording three shots on target and a free kick near the Lopers' box but were able to pull even, falling to the Lopers 3-2.
Mikhaela Goen and
Ruby Ryan each scored the first goal of their careers in the first half. The assists came from
Abby Bachman and
Madeline Bracy, which was the third of the season for Bachman and the first of Bracy's career.
Emporia State will be back in action on Sunday, October 27 as they travel to Warrensburg, Mo. for a match against Central Missouri. The match between the Hornets and Jennies will begin at 1:00 p.m.
