WKU Soccer Ties with Siena

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — It was tale of two halves for WKU Soccer on Thursday night against Siena. The Lady Toppers took a 2-0 lead in the first half, but gave up two goals in the second half to end in a draw with the Saints.

“They came out in a different formation in the second half and caught our players by surprise,” said head coach Jason Neidell. “It took us too long to figure out exactly what they were doing to be able to counter and adjust. We talked about that after the game. These are the type of games that are going to make us better in September and October. While we’re disappointed with the result, it’s the perfect game if we can take something from it and learn from it moving forward.”

The Lady Toppers move to 1-0-2 on the season with the tie.

Kayla Meyer scored the first goal of the night after firing off a shot from about 25 yards out that bounced off the right post into the goal in the fifth minute. It was Meyer’s first goal of the season and the fifth of her career.

WKU got another on the board in the 11th minute when Annah Hopkins launched a ball into the box and found Ambere Barnett making a run to the goal. She headed it into the back of the net past the Siena goalkeeper. It was Barnett’s first goal since coming back from injury. It is Barnett’s 19th goal of her career, which puts her in sole possession of the ninth place in the WKU record book.

Siena got on the board in the 47th minute after WKU own goal. The Saints evened the score in the 60th minute. Siena made one last run in the final seconds of the match, bouncing a ball off the top post but WKU goalkeeper Maddie Davis dove on the ball for the save.

Davis finished the game with three saves.

WKU outshot Siena 16-10 in the match, including a 6-4 advantage in shots on goal.

WKU will be back at the WKU Soccer Complex on Sunday against No. 17 Xavier. The start time is slated for 1 p.m.