The Lady Blues soccer team opened their 2012-2013 season Friday, Aug. 31, with a close 1-0 loss against Drury University.  Head coach, Tim Collins, describes the game as “a tale of two halves.”

In the first half, Drury took the lead within the first minute of play and held the Lady Blues away from the goal.

“We had a tough time throughout the first half with the speed of play and absorbed, quite well within the first minute, their play,” said Collins.

In the second half, the Lady Blues pushed hard against Drury, but unfortunately did not find the back of the net.

“I wondered only about our character throughout the game, and my questions were answered by the girls as we took it to them in the second half,” said Collins.

A solid second half performance was not enough to give the Blues a win, but it did leave the team with a sense of some satisfaction.

“We totally dominated the second half,” said Collins. “ It was an incredible 45 minutes that we displayed.”

Leading the Blues’ shots throughout the entire match were junior middle fielder and forward, Caysie Beetley, senior forward, Leah Talley, and junior defender, Megan Buckley, leaving Washburn with a total of five shots and Drury with only four.

“All of the girls were solid throughout the game,” said Collins.

Washburn was just unable to recover from the early deficit and monsoon-like weather made a comeback that much harder.

“We had a good start against Drury,” said Collins. “Sure, we didn’t get a positive result, but we played well and have developed our confidence to where we can come out strong for our next match.”

The Lady Blues’ next match came against Missouri S & T. Washburn was able to get on the board in the 29th minute with a Beetley score, but couldn’t muster up another goal the rest of the game. After a scoreless first overtime period, the Lady Miners’ Kendra Wood knocked in a corner kick in the second extra period to give Missouri S & T the victory, 2-1.

“In the second half they put us under a little more pressure,” said Collins. “We struggled dealing with that and kind of got out of our game.”

The Lady Blues were unable to capitalize on opportunities and some spectacular defensive plays by their opponents closed the door for any chance at a victory. Although the Blues were only able to muster up one goal in two games, they were able to get off more shots than both of their opponents. Washburn outshot the Panthers of Drury by one shot, five to four, with three of those coming on goal. In the second matchup Washburn outshot Missouri S & T 13 to 8 with nine of those being shots on goal.

“We do need to be better,” said Collins. “But last year we wouldn’t have had those chances (to score).”

The Lady Blues have made a valiant effort to finish, whether it be scoring a goal or playing all 90 minutes of the game.  A tough game against Missouri S & T and a strong showing in the second half of the Drury game leave plenty of hope in Collins’ mind.

“If we can put together moments like that (second half against Drury), during the course of the year then we can do some real damage,” said Collins.

Washburn will have a chance to right the ship this weekend with games Friday and Saturday in Colorado. On Friday, WU will square off Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, Co., and will then travel to Golden, Co. to face the Colorado School of Mines.

“Colorado Christian we should be able to play straight up,” said Collins. “Colorado School of Mines is very good and we welcome the opportunity to test ourselves against a terrific opponent.”

 The head coach has full faith in this team.

“Our strength is our team,” said Collins, “as we continue to grow throughout the next two weeks and the entire season, we have potential to do well.”