Wright State started Horizon League play last Saturday afternoon with a 1-0 win over Youngstown State powered by a second-half goal from senior Emilie Fillion.
Senior goalkeeper Brooke McCurdy had five saves in the match, giving her 345 for her career, which marks a WSU record.
“It has paid off from day one the fact I am here, it is a dream come true,” McCurdy said.
“It is a good milestone for her, she deserves it,” WSU head coach Patrick Ferguson said.
McCurdy credited her defense with limiting the opportunities she saw in net.
“The only reason I was able to make those saves was because the defense did their job up front so it made my job easy,” she said.
The Raiders managed to bounce back after a 4-1 loss at West Virginia last weekend. WSU snapped a five-game winless streak with Saturday’s victory.
“Right now, players are fatigued, kind of banged up,” Ferguson said. “I think it impacts training a little bit. But I was pleased with how the first 60 minutes went but I think we got tired and stopped playing.”
WSU put together a more complete effort both offensively and defensively against YSU.
“We really prepared all week,” Fillion said. “We forgot about last week.”
The Raiders got off to a strong first half with the Raiders outshooting the Penguins 8-2. Fillion had a number of chances to give WSU a 1-0 lead in the first but was unable to capitalize.
Fillion and the Raiders broke through in the 49th minute as Natalie Sedlock sent a well-timed ball over the Penguins’ defense and found a streaking Fillion who scored on a breakaway.
“I was waiting for it the whole first half,” Fillion said. “We have been practicing it all week and we were happy to get the chance.”
Fillion leads the team with six goals and has scored in back-to-back contests.
“We told her at halftime when she was getting around the box, she was playing too fast,” Ferguson said. “In the first half, she was getting great opportunities but then she was rushing her shot and we told her to relax.”
WSU allowed a few YSU chances later in the second half but the Raiders kept possession in the final five minutes of the contest squashing the Penguins’ rally.
WSU will continue its three-game home stand with conference opponent Oakland visiting this Saturday at 5 p.m.
