Head coach Brad Evans said on Monday that the team has made strides since the first two games in Minnesota where they dropped each of their matches in the Gopher Tournament.

The University of Toledo soccer team traveled to Youngstown State University on Friday, Aug. 30, where they beat the Penguins 1-0 and picked up their first win of the season. On Sunday, Sept.1, the Rockets took a loss in their home opener against Kentucky 2-1.

 “Our mental investment was better,” Evans said.

YSU was playing their first home game at the brand new Farmers National Bank Field.

“We had to overcome their energy from the opening play,” Evans said. “With them playing in a new stadium they came out with a lot of energy and our girls stayed inside their game and played well.”

The Rockets helped overcome all the excitement with senior forward Rachel MacLeod scoring in the 13th minute of the game. 

Toledo put up 15 shots against the Penguins, leading Evans to say, “We were the more overwhelming team and never allowed them to get comfortable and play their game.”

YSU only had three shots and three corner kicks, which all came within the first half of the game. 

The Rockets improved their record to 1-2-0 after Friday’s contest.

UT returned home Sunday for their home opener against Southeastern Conference opponent Kentucky at Scott Park.

The Rockets put up a brilliant defensive fight in front of 308 fans but fell a little short losing to the Wildcats 2-1.

The defeat set the Rockets back to 1-3-0 on the season while Kentucky improved to 2-1-1. 

UT’s defense - made up of senior Becky Rhodes, juniors Kristen Catloth and Brooke Lawler and sophomores Angelica Hernandez and goalie Sam Tiongson - played well by giving up only two goals on twenty-five shots and eleven corners. 

“We can’t take away everything, but we did take away inside our penalty box,” Evans said. “Most of those shots came from outside the box and that’s what we wanted.”

With a goal from junior Wildcat forward Stuart Pope in the 54th minute, UK grabbed a 1-0 lead.

Freshman forward Zoe Swift added another for Kentucky just two minutes later, which would eventually be the difference maker. 

“We had to really dig deep for the whole 90 minutes but we had a weak two and a half minutes,” Evans said. “I don’t fault the players’ effort, they worked their tails off.”

The Wildcats controlled the ball by keeping possession for the majority of the match.

“[Kentucky] put us under a ton of pressure, and we knew they would, but the team did a good job competing and almost getting an equalizer in the closing minutes.”

The Rockets’ game plan of keeping the majority of the players behind the ball did not allow for many chances on the attack but did allow a ‘bend but don’t break’ defensive tactic.

Toledo was able to score in the 86th minute thanks to Kristen Catloth with an assist coming from sophomore midfielder Geri Siudzinski.

UT had one final chance to score in the closing minute with a shot by Siudzinski in the 87th minute that went wide as UT fell 2-1.