Cougars beat Bearcats

The Bearcats came out flat after a big win earlier in the week. Chances came every so often, but the Cougars of University of Cincinnati at Clermont were able to run off most opportunities. The Bearcats seemed to have good chances that never came to fruition. For the game, the Bearcats had 3 corner kicks to only 1 for the Cougars, but were only able to turn one of those into a shot on goal.

The game started with airplanes soaring overhead with the Owensboro Air Show while crop dust was making it hard to see and breathe as soybean fields across from Kamuf Park were being cut down. Neither team was able to have a dangerous play until UC Clermont finally got on the board at the 23 minute mark when Brenna Cooper found Maria Hessling free up the middle to put away the game winner. After this, the game intensity revved up for both teams. The temperature was in the mid 90's and the player's on both teams got warmed up as well. 4 yellow cards were issued for high aggressiveness, with two going to each squad.

The last five minutes of the first half and most of the second half saw the Bearcats push forward much harder. With 15 minutes remaining in the contest, Kat Richey was able to sneak through for an insurance goal for the Cougars.

One bright spot for the Bearcats was the play of senior Jerrica Kidd (SR/Stanford, KY) in the goal. She garnered 10 saves in the contest and kept the defense on task for the majority of the game. David Ralph was asked after the game what it means to have someone of Jerrica's caliber manning the net. He said, "Jerrica has really come into her own this year. She is really making some big time saves and collections. It helps everyone out to know that they have a solid keeper supporting them. She is not tall, but her timing is impeccable right now. I have not seen anyone better at 1v1 opportunities this year."

The next time the Bearcats hit the field will be Thursday at home for their River States Conference opener against Rio Grande.