The Lady Toppers hosted the FIU Panthers Friday night at the WKU Soccer Complex, where the game ended in a 1-1 draw. This is WKU’s second straight draw against a conference opponent, moving them to 1-0-2 on the season in conference play.
“I thought we came out in the second half with a lot more intensity and composure, which we needed a little bit of both, that we were missing in the first half,” said head coach Jason Neidell. “I thought we came out flat to start the game. We battled hard in the second half. FIU is a really strong team. Tonight, we earned a tie. I felt like a lot of times this season when we’ve gotten ties, we’ve settled for ties. Tonight, we earned a big point in conference play.”
FIU scored very quickly in the 8th minute but was halted on offense from that point on. WKU’s lone goal was scored by freshman Rebecca Roth and assisted by graduate Katie Erwin. This marked Roth’s first goal of her career and Erwin’s second assist of the season as well as the 12th of her career. WKU had nine shots and four shots on goal.
FIU is the conference leader in goals scored, but that didn’t stop the Lady Topper’s defense from putting together another strong performance. The Panthers had 15 shot attempts and seven shots on goal. FIU has a strong offense that had scored three goals on each of its first two C-USA matchups. Sophomore goalkeeper Maddie Davis had six saves, three short of her career high. This puts her at 37 saves on the season.
“Maddie was absolutely incredible,” Neidell said. “She was one of the players I mentioned in our postgame talk. I thought she was really solid. And it was wet conditions and she handled everything cleanly tonight. She had a tremendous game in goal.”
The Lady Toppers begin October with a matchup at home against the Chicago State Cougars on October 1st, a break from conference play before returning to it for the rest of the season.
Sports Reporter Michael Givner Jr. can be reached at [email protected].
