The Columbus Eagles fell to FC Pride of Indianapolis, Indiana, 1-0 on a cloudy and humid Sunday afternoon.
The game started with aggression from Eagles’ Allison Harbart and Erin Brockway, with Broadway getting a decent run and a chance on goal that did not challenge the FC Pride goalkeeper.
After some back and forth action, Columbus pressed around the 30-minute mark, getting shots from Emma Ranalli and Molly Cornwall, whose attempt had to be collected by the goalkeeper.
The aggression opened up the opportunity for the counter, and FC Pride forward Lizzie Rittenhouse took advantage. Rittenhouse, who plays for Indiana Wesleyan University, got a strong first touch to get the ball down, then powered through two Eagles defenders and finished with a chip shot above Eagles goalie Lauren Clark.
“It was frustrating. We had two defenders back on four (FC Pride players) and they just lobbed it right over our heads and we couldn’t get back,” Eagles head coach Mark Wise said after the match.
With 38 minutes to go in the first half, the Eagles had perhaps their best chance to get on the scoreboard at that point, in a fairly odd situation. After some miscommunication, a normally routine pass from an FC Pride defender to the goalkeeper snuck through and the ball rolled, seemingly in slow motion, just wide of the net before any FC Pride player could clear the seemingly-innocent “shot” as the crowd exhaled in unison.
Despite some chances and almost getting a huge stroke of luck, the Eagles went into halftime down 1-0.
The second half marked a change in pace, as both teams had plenty of chances to either extended their lead or even the game up.
Pride had a free kick from 20 yards out that went well wide, then, at the 56th minute mark, Erin Brockway released a rocket from the right of goal that narrowly missed the net wide left, and the Eagles would continue to push for a goal.
Off a corner from Molly Cornwall, who Wise praised for her creativity, substitute Danielle Dixon got off a shot from the right of goal, but the attempt went at too steep an angle and crossed the goal harmlessly.
The Eagles continued to control the pace of play for and goalkeeper Lauren Clark kept it close with some sound saves and good hustle to cut off FC Pride runs, and with under ten minutes to go the Eagles would have their best chance on goal, when a Dixon cross was cleared out directly to Brockway, who sent the shot directly to the foot of a well-placed FC Pride defender and from there FC Pride were able to kill the rest of the clock as the Eagles seemed gassed after their huge push came up just short, and the score remained to make it a 1-0 final.
Wise called the loss “disappointing” and emphasized capitalizing once again saying: “we still need to work on finishing. I have to find a way to fix that.”
The Columbus Eagles will travel away to face the Michigan Lions next Sunday.
