Gateway

Issue date: 11/10/09 Section: Sports

Jerica Kuncl looks to get past Missouri Southern's Danai Noftz during a game last week. (Jodi Penn/The Gateway) [Click to enlarge]

The UNO soccer team entered Saturday's regular-season finale against Central Missouri needing the win to secure the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association's conference title. The Mavs came up short, though, when their potent offense was shut out in the 1-0 loss to the Jennies in Warrensburg, Mo.

The Mavs (13-5-2, 12-2-2 MIAA) mustered only two shots in the first half and seven total for the game.

"We're disappointed," head coach Don Klosterman said. "We're proud of how they played, they competed really hard. That's all you can ask, that's all we ask them to do. They're disappointed, too, but we did some great things."

The Mavs came into the final weekend on top of the MIAA standings, but a 1-1 tie against Southwest Baptist and the loss to the Jennies put UNO in second place with 38 points, two behind Truman.

The loss on Saturday snapped a 10-game unbeaten streak for UNO, which had recorded six shutouts in that time span. Central Missouri improved to 13-5-2 overall and 12-3-1 in the conference.

"They came out with a good approach," Klosterman said. "They're a bigger, more physical and stronger team so that makes it very tough."

The Mavs and Jennies were scoreless through the first hour of the game until Central Missouri's Lindsay Hoerl scored on a rebound off the top crossbar in the 61st minute to give the Jennies the deciding 1-0 advantage. The ball took an odd bounce on the crossbar that proved favorable for the Jennies.

"Nine times out of 10 that ball bounces out of bounds," Klosterman said. "But this time it bounced back into play. There's nothing you can do."

The Mavs applied heavy pressure in the final moments of the match. Freshman defender Danielle Archuleta and sophomore forward Jerica Kuncl each put shots on goal in the last two minutes, but Central Missouri's Lauren Bamvakais saved both attempts to secure the win.

"The second half was probably the best we've played in a really long time," Klosterman said. "The first half we didn't handle their pressure very well. They really controlled things in the middle of the field and we couldn't get anything generated. The second half, we turned that around and did a much better job in the midfield. We were able to keep the ball on their end of the field."

Continued...

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