Central women’s soccer team suffers heartbreaking loss at Loras
Central College
DUBUQUE — The Central College women’s soccer team was seconds away from forcing overtime in Dubuque when Loras College scored off of a corner kick to seal a 2-1 victory Saturday.
Loras midfielder Claire Murphy knocked home the game winner with just one second showing on the clock.
That foiled an upset bid by the Dutch (4-4-2 overall, 0-1 Iowa Conference), who struck first when midfielder Emily Benson (senior, Urbandale) scored a long-range goal from outside the box early in the second half for the 1-0 lead.
“Benson can do that, and I was so happy for her as a senior who has worked so hard to get a nice goal against a good team,” said coach Mike Kobylinski.
The team was upbeat after pulling ahead against a tough Iowa Conference opponent on the road.
“The attitude of the team was positive,” said Kobylinski. “Obviously to take the lead against a Loras team that was preseason 22nd in the nation, I think that’s a great thing.”
Central would continue to lead until the 81st minute when a foul inside the box gave Loras (6-5, 1-0 conference) a penalty kick, which the Duhawks converted to tie the match at one. The match remained tied until the late Loras heroics.
Kobylinski said the Dutch still showed that they are capable of competing with the rest of the teams on their schedule.
“We can play with anyone in the conference,” said Kobylinski. “Loras was preseason No. 1 in the conference and we gave them more than a game at their place.”
He praised the play of defender Kayla Sunvold (sophomore, Runnels, Southeast Polk HS), defender Liz Daniels (senior, Oconomowoc, Wis.) and defender Rachel Verhun (Ann Arbor, Mich., Pioneer HS). Central was outshot 14-8 in total shots, and 8-4 in shots on goal, but allowed just one non-penalty kick goal.
The Dutch will play the season’s first home conference match Wednesday when the play host to Coe College (4-4) at 4 p.m. Kobylinski expects his team to come out ready to play.
“We are going to be hungry for a win against Coe,” said Kobylinski. “We are going to be hungry the rest of the conference season. We had one that got away from us.”
