HAMILTON - The Gryphons women's soccer team has shown some fine form on the road this season, securing 10 out of a possible 12 points during the first four matches of the season, all of which came on the road. On Sunday afternoon however, the Gryphons impressive point streak away from home came to an end following a 2-0 loss to the McMaster Marauders at Ron Joyce Stadium. The Marauders opened the scoring in the 12th minute and added another right before half to push the lead to 2-0. With the result, the Gryphons fall to 3-2-1 (wins-losses-draws) on the season and sit 2nd place in the OUA West, just two points out of top spot. Meanwhile, for McMaster, the win marks their first of the 2017 season as they improve to 1-1-4.
"I thought we started really brightly," said Gryphons head coach
Shayne Campbell. "We had good possession early on and had several good looks at goal within the first 20 minutes or so."
The best of those chances came when second year midfielder Danielle Sauve was sent in alone, but was unable to beat Marauders keeper Deanna Persico who stood tall to keep the match scoreless early.
Both McMaster goals came from in close from their third year winger Ally Riganelli, who twice was able to get on the receiving end of crosses deep into the Gryphons 18-yard box.
"McMaster has some great size and athleticism, and that created some problems for us on the outside," added Campbell. "But the effort level was there for us throughout."
The Gryphons will next be in action on Saturday, September 16 when they travel to Sault Ste. Marie for a matchup with the Algoma Thunderbirds (0-4-0). The Gryphons and Thunderbirds will play a pair of matches on the weekend, with both games starting at 1pm on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
