Women’s soccer works hard with short bench

The FC women’s soccer team traveled to the Georgia Southwestern Invitational in Americus, Ga. last weekend losing two tough matches to NCAA Division II teams. On Friday, the Lady Falcons met up with GSW, losing 0-3. The first goal came after miscommunication on the part of the Falcons early in the first half. The team rebounded and played solid for the rest of the half. During the second half, GSW had two skilled goals and the Falcons showed their lack of depth on the bench, tiring quickly. Georgia Southwestern went on to win the tournament.

On Saturday, the team faced off with Converse College. Once again, the Falcons held their opponent to one goal in the first half. The team had several chances to score, but only one of their opportunities yielded goals. Senior Katee Puterbaugh scored a sensational goal late in the second half off a free kick from sophomore Hanna Krek, but the goal was too late to bring the team back. Converse would go on to win 4-1. According to Head Coach Tim Hanlon ‘09, “The score didn’t reflect how well the girls played. If some of our chances had fallen, it would have been a different game.”

On Tuesday, Southeastern University of the NAIA traveled to Temple Terrace to meet up with the Lady Falcons. The women kept close in the first half, holding the Fire to two goals. In the second half, the team’s low energy began to show as they were unable to get back on defense after losing the ball on offense, which led to several goals by SEU.

Freshman Katy Hutto was not discouraged by the early losses. “This unit of girls has never played together so we’re going to work on being unified. Our work ethic is not the issue, we just need more experience together,” said Hutto.

The women’s soccer team (0-3) will travel to Georgia again this weekend. They will play Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Ga. at 5:00 PM on Friday. On Sunday at 2:00 PM, they will play Piedmont College in Demorest, Ga.