MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Soccer created numerous shot chances for the second consecutive match on Thursday afternoon, but the Screaming Eagles came up short, 2-0, at Robert Morris University to begin a two-game road swing.
Following a 21-shot performance at home last Sunday, USI produced 14 shot attempts in Thursday’s road contest at Robert Morris. Senior forward Emerson Grafton and graduate student Maggie Duggan, who are one and two in leading the Eagles in shots this season, combined for half of USI’s shots on Thursday. Grafton tallied four shots against the Colonials, while Duggan recorded three attempts. Grafton also had a shot on goal. Senior forward Peyton Murphy had a pair of shots.
On the defensive end, Southern Indiana redshirt goalkeeper Anna Markland matched her season total with five saves off 15 shots faced on Thursday. Freshman defender Tierney Mullady played 79 minutes in her first career start and notched one shot.
Grafton got USI going early with a couple of shot attempts. However, Southern Indiana ran into early adversity just past the 13-minute mark of the contest when a red card reduced the Eagles to 10 players on the field for the rest of the match. The Screaming Eagles nearly overcame the early setback in the 25th minute when a long-range shot by Grafton went off the crossbar and could not initially be hauled in by the Robert Morris goalkeeper.
The game remained scoreless until the 34th minute when Robert Morris got on the board off a lunging header on the back end of a long cross. The goal energized the Colonials to a handful of shots down the stretch of the opening half, but Markland and the Eagles kept the game to a one-goal differential going into halftime.
Nearly 10 minutes into the second stanza, Robert Morris doubled its lead to 2-0. The Colonials scored on a low cross that was poked into the corner netting.
Southern Indiana tried to cut into the deficit with a couple of corner kicks and a string of shots with nearly 20 minutes to go, but to no avail. Markland kept USI within two in the final minutes after a pair of saves with under eight minutes left, including a charging save coming off the goal line. Robert Morris went on to carry its 2-0 lead into the final whistle.
Southern Indiana will continue to work toward its first score and result of the season on Sunday afternoon when the Screaming Eagles conclude their two-game road swing at the University of Akron. Kickoff Sunday is slated for Noon CT and can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+.
