Grizzlies fall to Transylvania in home match
The Franklin Grizzlies (1-8, 0-2 HCAC) fell to Transylvania University on Thursday, losing 3-0. This continues the streak of scoreless games for Franklin to nine games.
“They are fast, aggressive, and have great touches,” Coach Moulton said. “We can’t allow them to get space.”
“We move freshman Lauren Hawes back to feft fullback to counter some of the exceptional speed they have all around,” said Moulton. “We can’t have mental breakdowns, because those translate in to goals. When we get tired the first thing to go is mental.”
The Pioneers have spread the ball around getting goals eight different players, led by junior Katie Kelly.
“She is not a big player, but is very quick, and can strike from the outside,” Moulton said. “She has very quick moves and we can’t give her space.”
“The Pioneers have a great recruiting base in the home city of Lexington, Kentucky,” Moulton continued, “We are not intimidated by the past and are still looking up.”
The previous two years the Grizzlies have been blanked by Transylvania by ten or more goals. In 2007, the Grizzlies were thrashed by a 12-0 score and 2006 a 10-0 defeat.
“We need to stay solid and this game will be a confidence builder for us,” Moulton said. “We moved freshman Sarah Hume up to help establish a presence alongside classmate Brittany Muston for scoring opportunities.”
The Pioneers established a presence very early in the match. The fourth minute saw junior Katie Sutherland add a second goal to her statistics put the ball past sophomore Chelsea Parks with the assist of classmate Whitney Price.
Transylvania tacked on another goal in the 19th minute with the goal being credited to sophomore Sarah Zembrodt, her second on the season, with a fifth helper from Kelly.
The Pioneers put one more goal on the board in the half off the head of freshman Amber Baith. The goal was set up by a sophomore Lauren Burton lob which was placed in the net by Baith.
Parks faced 11 shots in the half and made eight saves. The second half went scoreless with Transylvania generating the only five shots in the half.
The majority of the game was played in the Grizzly half and three goals were the showing the second place team from last year had to show.
“I can not be happier; the ladies played the full ninety minutes and built confidence for the game this Saturday,” Moulton said.
The Pioneers will take on the Hanover Panthers on Tuesday as the Grizzlies will continue their second home stand against the Yellow Jackets of Defiance at 1 p.m. on Saturday the 4th. Both games are HCAC games.
