UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University women's soccer program hosted their quarterfinal match against the Ferris State Bulldogs Monday afternoon. They lost with a final score of 1-0 with the lone goal coming in the 26th minute.
It was a very physical match with action both ways. The Cardinals and Bulldogs tied with 11 shot attempts and four shots on goal each. Lainey Garbarz made her return from injury starting in net and playing all 90 minutes. She stopped three of the four shots she faced. Stephanie Strong led the offense with three shots and two on goal. Madi Bajis and Sarah Fredrick both had two shots and Campbell Gibson and Peyton Kennedy both had one shot on goal.
SVSU started with the pressure getting two quick corner kicks. They led in that category six to one. Saginaw Valley couldn't capitalize on the early set pieces and Ferris pushed the pace the other way. With 19:01 remaining in the first half, Ferris got a shot through two defensemen and scored in the bottom right corner to give the Bulldogs the 1-0 advantage.
After the half, the Cardinals pushed back and the fouls started to come in. Both teams got a yellow card 19 seconds apart from each other. Ferris led in fouls 14-7 with eight in the second half. The Cardinals and Bulldogs played back and forth for the middle part of the second half. SVSU started to develop some chances late with one of their best coming from Strong. A chip shot deflected off the Bulldog goalkeeper and bounced off the crossbar and out, keeping the match 1-0 Ferris State. With a minute left, a second yellow card on Brinley Bell led to a red card and a man advantage for Saginaw Valley. They could not capitalize and Ferris State kept the ball deep in Cardinal territory and ran out the clock.
With the loss, the Cardinal women's soccer team is out of the GLIAC tournament. They will await the announcement of NCAA qualifiers to see if their season will continue.
