Marshall Women\u2019s Soccer Recap<\/p>\n
By Shane Darling, FM88 Sports Director<\/p>\n
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. (WMUL-FM) \u2014 The Great Wall of Lorkowski limited Marshall to just one goal as Louisiana Tech and the Thundering Herd opened their Sun Belt Conference schedules.<\/p>\n
The barrage of shots on the Bulldog freshman goalkeeper Mackenzie Lorkowski began immediately as she got warmed up with a couple of easy saves in the first three minutes. However, she stared down Wiktoria Mikrut five minutes into the matchup as Mikrut stepped up to take her fifth penalty kick of the year, having gone a perfect 4-4 on the season so far. Mikrut hit the ball hard to the bottom left corner of the net; Lorkowski dived the correct way, fully extended and trapped the ball in her hands to keep the game scoreless.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood goalie,\u201d Marshall Head Coach Rafa Simoes said about Lorkowski before the game. \u201cWe want to test her. When we\u2019re at home, we want to create a lot of chances and just hope she doesn\u2019t have a good day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Test her, Marshall definitely did. Have a bad day, she most definitely did not.<\/p>\n
Coming into the game, Lorkowski averaged a conference-leading nine saves per game. However, Louisiana Tech was just 2-5-1 on the season because she faced more shots on goal than anyone else in the conference at over 13 per game. Lorkowski picked up another nine saves as Marshall<\/p>\n
had 22 shots with 10 of them on target. This is now her fourth game of the year with at least nine saves, having 11 against Southeastern Louisiana and 12 against Houston Christian. For reference, Marshall\u2019s program record for saves in a game is 11.<\/p>\n
Thirty-one minutes into the game, Louisiana Tech almost got on the board first as Peyton Wiseman\u2019s shot from about 25 yards out hit the crossbar. Two minutes later, Marshall\u2019s Julia Migacz, who was subbed into the game fewer than three minutes earlier, pulled the trigger from distance herself and hit the bottom left corner of the net.<\/p>\n
The Thundering Herd controlled the ball throughout much of the final ten minutes of the first half, giving Marshall a 1-0 lead going into the locker room.<\/p>\n
The Thundering Herd started the second half with full-out aggression. Lea Misch controlled a corner kick right in front of the net, but Mackenzie Lorkowski made herself big, deflected the shot and then covered the ball with her body right on the goal line. Brooklyn McComas sent in a cross and it hit the crossbar right above Lorkowski\u2019s head. Wiktoria Mikrut put another shot off the top woodwork from outside the box eighteen minutes into the second half. Marshall might need to inspect the goal on the west side of the field for damages because three balls on the day hit that same crossbar.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should have put it to 2-0 when we had the chances,\u201d Coach Simoes said. \u201cWe kept them alive in the game\u2026 It’s very easy what we’re going to work on this week: finishing. We’re building the cake but not putting the cherry on to finish. It\u2019s very simple where we are at.\u201d<\/p>\n
All Louisiana Tech needed was one chance and it completely flipped the script. After the Thundering Herd couldn\u2019t capitalize on five shots to start the second half, Isabella Wilson cut to<\/p>\n
the left in the right side of the box and finished with her left foot into the top left corner of the net. Marshall was in complete control, and yet the game ended up tied with 25 minutes left.<\/p>\n
Lorkowski picked up three saves in just over the last eight minutes of play. Luana Gusmao headed one hard at the net, but Lorkowski\u2019s quick hands were able to get in front of her head and knock it away. A few minutes later, Gusmao headed one hard into the ground from the six-yard box, Lorkowski was able to read it and jump to tip it up to herself. The last shot on net for the Herd was off the foot of McComas from distance with under four minutes to go. It one-hopped into Lorkowski\u2019s hands, and the freshman was able to salvage a 1-1 draw.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m proud of the performance,\u201d Simoes said. \u201cWe produced 22 shots, 2 balls off the crossbar, a PK miss, 100 balls in the small box, but soccer is like that. We always say in Brazil, \u2018You gotta score\u2019\u2026 All the other phases in the game I thought were fantastic\u2026 I think for us this tie feels like a loss.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bulldogs only had nine shots total, with just two of them on net, but they made them count. Louisiana Tech earned just one corner kick in the game with 70 seconds on the clock, compared to the Herd\u2019s seven.<\/p>\n
Both teams started conference play with a point. This game feels like more of a victory for the Bulldogs, who were picked to come 13th in the 14-team Sun Belt Conference in the preseason coaches\u2019 poll, while Marshall was picked to come sixth.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Sun Belt is tough man,\u201d Simoes said. \u201cIt\u2019s my third year in the conference and it\u2019s very tricky. There are no easy games.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Thundering Herd came into the game 4-2-2 and was riding high after a victory over Bellarmine on Sunday where the Herd had a season-high four goals on 14 shots, seven of which<\/p>\n
were on net. So, adding eight total shots and three shots on goal to these totals and the Herd ended up with three less on the scoreboard as a courtesy of Lorkowski.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re working hard every day,\u201d Marshall sophomore forward Geovanna Souza said. \u201cWe improved a lot on some stuff that we were working on. I think I can say there was some unluckiness too because I had a lot of chances, and we almost scored a lot of times\u2026 I think it was a good start. I think we played a good game and now it’s just like focus, there\u2019s nine more games so we still have a chance to improve every day and get more wins.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Thundering Herd heads to Troy for a game on Thursday night with kickoff at 7 p.m., and then comes back to Huntington for a matchup with James Madison University Sunday afternoon. This gives the Herd three matches in eight days.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have no time, we got to focus on Troy now,\u201d Simoes said. \u201cThis game is done. We have to learn our lessons, do our postgame analysis that we always do. Learn the lessons, work on it and move on\u2026 There’s not a lot of time to cry. We got to move on\u2026 We have to finish on days like that. There’s a lesson to learn that is put the cherry on the cake, and we didn’t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Louisiana Tech has three games in eight days as well. The Bulldogs play host to Appalachian State on Thursday for a 7 p.m. kickoff and then head to Southern Miss on Sunday for a 1 p.m. kickoff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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