YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University soccer team lost for the first time in 2022 as the Eagles suffered a 3-1 defeat on the road at St. Bonaventure University Sunday, Aug. 28, in St. Bonaventure, NY
The Eagles, who trailed for the first time this season after conceding two goals early in the match, saw their record slip to 1-1-1 overall while the Bonnies moved to 2-0-2.
Freshman Secora Johnson (Galena, Ohio-Olentangy Orange) scored with just under three minutes remaining in the opening half to draw the Eagles closer at 2-1, but a possession-heavy second half did not equate to an equalizer with the Bonnies adding a late goal to seal the score.
How it Happened
» 11′ – The Bonnies got on the board first with what was later ruled an Eastern own goal. On the play, SBU’s corner kick was sent into the box with several players on both sides having a chance to redirect the ball. But the ball deflected off an EMU foot and trickled into the net for a 1-0 SBU lead.
» 16′ – Just five minutes later, the hosts struck again to take a 2-0 advantage. On the play, Ami Kamori collected a pass at the top of the box, turned and moved into the area with her second touch resulting in a low shot to the right of EMU keeper Rebecca Przybylo (Canton, Mich.-Plymouth) that found the bottom corner.
» 43′ – With 42:02 eclipsed off the clock, the Eagles continued to press forward and were rewarded with their lone goal of the game. The ball was bounced around the area before it made its way to Johnson at the top of the 18. Johnson immediately volleyed the ball towards the net with her shot looping over the keeper. It is Johnson’s first career collegiate goal.
» 89′ – The second half saw the Eagles maintain most of the possession with the Bonnies getting forward occasionally. Unfortunately, a yellow car on Eastern resulted in a free kick for SBU that saw Kenzie Tarmino fire from a distance and over the reach of Przybylo for an added goal and the final 3-1 margin.
Game Notes
» With the loss, Eastern falls to 1-1-1 on the year and suffers their first defeat of 2022.
» Eastern falls to 0-1-1 in its series with the Bonnies after the two sides played to a 1-1 draw last year in Ypsilanti.
» Johnson’s goal pulled the Eagles closer to a pair of milestones as her tally stands at 799th all-time goals scored in program history and the 324th road goal recorded.
» With the goal and dating back to last season, the Eagles have scored in seven-consecutive matches, tying the most recent streak of consecutive games with at least one goal in 2019.
» Johnson is the third different Eastern player — and the only freshman so far — to score her first collegiate goal this year with each match seeing a new name added to the list, including Vittoria Greco (Brooklyn, Ontario-Brooklyn) in the opener with Western Illinois and Meagan Lukowski (Bay City, Mich.-Bay City Western) in the 4-0 win at Illinois State.
» The goal for Johnson makes her the seventh different Eagle to score a goal this year and the eighth different player to record at least one point in the campaign.
» Eastern out-shot SBU, 22-10, with four players recording at least three shots, including Greco’s team-high four.
» One more newcomer made her collegiate debut in the match with freshman Cailyn Smith (Pinkney, Mich.-Brighton) seeing several minutes of playing time at the end of the first half. She is the seventh different player to make her debut in 2022.
Up Next
Eastern returns to action next week with a pair of home contests, starting with a match against visiting Syracuse University Thursday, Sept. 1, at 5 pm The Eagles will also play host to Dartmouth College at 1 pm Sunday, Sept. 4.