NASHVILLE, Tenn. – For the second consecutive game, the Lipscomb women's soccer team struggled out of the gate. The Lady Bisons were unable to recover from a 2-0 deficit, falling by that score to UT-Martin Monday at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex.

“Unfortunately, two games in a row we have had slow starts,” Lipscomb head coach Kevin O’Brien said. “Thankfully against MTSU (Middle Tennessee State) we weren’t punished where tonight we were.

“It was a strong UT-Martin side with some very good players. You’ve got to match them blow-for-blow and unfortunately in the first half they were stronger in every phase of the game.”

The SkyHawks (1-2-0) picked up their first goal of the game in the 10^th minute of play when Abi Sanvee headed the ball off a corner kick coming from Ellie Myrick. In the 29^th minute, Aoife Lennon had a deflection knocked right at her that she was able to put into the net for the 2-0 lead.

“They took advantage of their set pieces very well,” O’Brien said. “Great delivery and combativeness in the air and we didn’t match it. Ultimately, that was their two goals.

“When you allow them to pump it in the box and it is basically whoever wants it more. It is always difficult because the ball careens. The second goal goes off our defender, hits the post and drops down to their player.”

The slow start hampered the Lady Bisons attack managing three shots on goal on the night from sophomore Caroline Chadwell.

“In the run of play, they weren’t breaking us down,” O’Brien said. “They had some shots from distance that I though Anna (Buhigas) handled well.

Buhigas stopped four balls that came her way while counterpart Mariah Klenke had three saves in the shutout effort.

As the team looks toward the next contest, Friday hosting Alabama State at 7 p.m., O’Brien sees bright spots for Lipscomb who falls to 1-2-1 overall.

“The positive was that in the second half we responded," O'Brien said. "I think the girls played much better and kept possession way better than we did in the first half. It is promising moving forward.

“Not taking anything away from Martin, they were a great team and they played very well tonight. We have got to control those controllable’s and we didn’t do that tonight. 

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