Costly Penalties Force Mastodons’ 1-0 Loss to Wright State

In their first Horizon League matchup of the season, the Wright State Raiders defeated the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons by a score of 1-0 on Thursday night at Hefner Soccer Complex in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Between the Whistles

First Half:

The first 45 minutes of the annual Pink Out game had the spectators watching the Mastodons’ goal for what felt like 40 of the 45 minutes. Wright State brought relentless pressure early and often in the half. To make matters more stressful for the ‘Dons, Purdue Fort Wayne was without junior Emersyn Geik in the defensive back. Geik was ruled ineligible for competition tonight as she received two yellow cards last game against Eastern Illinois.

A yellow card on PFW’s Beth Loveless at 02:47 remaining in the half for a penalty kick outside of the 18’ box gave Wright State a shot at the goal with the box stacked with defenders. The Mastodon defense held strong blocking not one, but two shots by Wright State’s Ruby Dunlevy and clearing it to the other half of the field.

The Mastodon defense continued to bend but not break thwarting off more onslaught by the Raiders. As the horn sounded for half time, the score remained tied 0-0. The Raiders took 11 shots with five being on goal. Purdue Fort Wayne was only able to get off two shots with neither of them close enough to be on goal. At the break, Wright State led in corner kicks as well six to one.

Second Half:

After the halftime break, the offensive attack was slightly more balanced as Purdue Fort Wayne was able to make a few runs at the Raider goal only to be thwarted by the back line of the Raiders every time. Possession remained in control of Wright State for a majority of the second half.

In the 56th minute, the Mastodons’ were called for a penalty inside the box on a free kick by Wright State. With the ball placed on the penalty spot, Wright State’s Amber Branum was able to put the ball past PFW’s Jordan Imes in the lower left corner. However, the celebration would be short as both a Wright State and Purdue Fort Wayne player would break the plane of the box before the kick forcing another try at the penalty. Branum would get the nod again to try the kick, and she would put it in the same spot off of Imes’ hands and into the back of the net.

For the rest of the game, the Mastodons’ sense of urgency was futile against the defensive back line of the Raiders. The Mastodons would get a few pushes throughout the remainder of the game from Cyann Retzloff and the other forwards, but the Raider defense held strong every time only allowing 3 shots by the Mastodons in the second half. The horn would sound as Imes was chasing down a ball kicked out of bounds by the Raiders to end the game.

Key Performances

Amber Branum (WSU) – 5 shots, 3 shots on goal, 1 goal

Jordan Imes (PFW) – 9 saves, 1 goal allowed

Game Stats:

Shots – PFW (5), WSU (24)

Shots on Goal – PFW (2), WSU (10)

Saves – PFW (9), WSU (2)

Corner Kicks – PFW (1), WSU (9)

Yellow Cards – PFW (2 Loveless, Sokol), WSU (0)

Fouls – PFW (7), WSU (7)

Offsides – PFW (0), WSU (3)

What’s Next:

Wright State’s next game will be Sunday, September 21st against Detroit Mercy. This win moves the series to 11-1-3 in favor of the Raiders. The last and only time the Raiders lost to the Mastodons was in 2021.

The Mastodons have some time to recoup with the bye weekend. The ‘Dons will travel up Lake Michigan for the annual Wisconsin trip taking on Milwaukee on Thursday, September 25th and Green Bay on Sunday, September 28th.