WKU Falls 1-0 to Wright State in Friday Night Exhibition

Friday, August 16

Bowling Green, Ky.

6 P.M. CT

Western Kentucky University

0-1

Wright State (EXH)

1-0

Wright State

WKU

8/16/2019 9:11:00 PM | Women's Soccer

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BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Jordyne Helinski's goal in the 25th minute was the lone strike as WKU dropped a 1-0 preseason decision against Wright State on Friday evening at the WKU Soccer Complex.

WKU will round out its exhibition schedule on Sunday evening at 6 p.m. at the Soccer Complex with a visit from Austin Peay. Much like Friday's three 25-minute period format, Sunday will feature two 30-minute halves following by a 20-minute golden goal overtime period regardless of score. The two teams will then close out the exhibition with a penalty kick shootout. Sunday's match will be available live on Facebook through the Hilltopper Sports Satellite Network.

Four of WKU's freshmen drew starts on Friday night, with Sydney Ernst, Lucy Lyon, Katie Erwin and Logan Barber entering the starting line for the Lady Toppers. Ernst and Lyon each played the full 75 minutes as Head Coach Jason Neidell experimented with his lineup throughout the night.

"I thought Sydney Ernst had a fantastic performance tonight, she's going to be a really dynamite player for us," Neidell said after the match. "Katie Erwin also had a really good performance, and Lucy Lyon also had a fantastic match. Coming off an injury, she played all 75 minutes well tonight."

Chandler Backes and Olivia Stanley each put two shots on goal, but the Lady Toppers were unable to finish off any chances to negate Helinski's early strike. In goal, Bailee Witt and Afton Schraml split time almost evenly, with Witt making one save in the setback.

For Wright State, Maddie Jewell played the full match between the pipes and made seven saves to put together a clean sheet.

In the first period, Victoria Mayo had two strong chances to put the Lady Toppers in front before Helinski's goal. The junior sent a headed effort on goal just under seven minutes in, but Jewell was the for the stop; later, Mayo sent a blast from outside the box on goal but fired just over the bar as the Raiders took a 1-0 lead after the opening 25 minutes.

Backes and Barber each had chance to pull WKU level in the second frame. Backes, WKU's active leading career goalscorer, got her head on two crosses early in the frame, but one fell into Jewell's hands and another went over the goal. Barber's chance came as time ticked down late in the period; set up by a pass from Backes into the center of the box, the freshman fired at the center of the goal but was denied by the Raiders' keeper.

Over the final 25-minute period, the Lady Toppers attempted to push up to find the equalizer and got good looks from Stanley and Backes, but could not find the back of the net despite the strong efforts.

Following this weekend's matches, WKU will put the finishing touches on its preparations for the 2019 season before kicking off the regular season next Thursday evening at 7 p.m. as Belmont makes the short trip to the WKU Soccer Complex. WKU has never dropped a match against the Bruins in a series that dates back to 2008, holding a 4-0-1 record that includes a 3-0 shutout win in the last regular season meeting on Sept. 17, 2016.