Minneapolis, MN -- The North Central University (NCU) Women's Soccer Team played their home opener today against the Providence University College (PUC) Pilots. NCU would struggle to keep the ball out of their own zone, which ultimately led to many scoring chances for the visitors. PUC led in shots on goal 11-4 and scored on a stellar 54.5% of those SOG. Two exciting goals late for the Blue and Gold would not be enough to overcome the deficit, and the Rams would fall 6-2.

The Pilots would strike first in this one, scoring in the 11th minute to take the early lead. Team captain Kara Lewis (Mandeville, LA) was on the attack from the jump, getting off 4 of NCU's 5 total shots in the first half of play. North Central would do a good job of working to get 5 corner kicks, but were unable to capitalize off these chances. The Pilots would tack on two more goals, in the 28th and 40th minute of half one. Heading into halftime, the Rams would trail 3-0. 

Coming out of the break, NCU would look to gain any sort of momentum in order to turn the tides in this one. Costly fouls by the Blue and Gold would lead to PUC finding the back of the net on a penalty kick in the 63rd minute, and then another goal in the 66th minute of action to stretch the deficit to 5-0. The Rams, however, would not cave in. In the 83rd minute, freshman defender Jessica Redman (Beaver Dam, WI) would score her first career goal. Then, just before the final buzzer, Lewis would cash in on a score of her own. Although NCU was starting to build some positive momentum, the game would ultimately come to an end, and Providence would hand the Rams their first loss on the season.

Today's box score can be found here.

Looking Ahead:

The women will be back in action next Tuesday as they face the Buena Vista Beavers under the lights at 7:00pm!

All fans are encouraged to tune into the official Rams Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter pages for updates on women's soccer and all things NCU Athletics.