DAVIS, California – UTEP’s (0-3) Vic Bohdan tallied her first goal of the season (11’) but Nevada (1-1) received second-half scores from Gabby Brown (64‘) and Trinity Sandridge (76‘) to slip past the Miners, 2-1, in a neutral-site match Thursday evening.
The contest was originally slated to be played in Reno, Nev., but was moved to Davis, Calif., as result of unsafe smoke levels in Reno.
Bohdan’s strike put UTEP up, 1-0, just over 10 minutes in, with Kam Fisher and Molly Sutherland picking up assists on the play. The Miners carried that lead into the locker room before Brown scored in the 64th minute. Sandridge put away a chance in the 76th minute for what proved to be the match winner.
Freshman Luisa Palmen turned away all three shots faced in the first half. Emily Parrott played the second half in net for the Orange and Blue.
The Miners recorded seven shots in the game, including two on target; as well as a corner kick. The Orange and Blue defense kept Nevada to five shots on goal, including just a pair in the second half.
“Tonight’s loss is the toughest of them thus far,” head coach Kathryn Balogun said. “We were never able to find the gritty, competitive intensity we need to win at this level. We have put ourselves in a tough spot being 0-3, but don’t count us out. We have a lot of good players, a lot of depth and as the head coach I will do better in preparing our team for success on the field.”
UTEP pressured early with a try by Kam Fisher sailing wide in the eighth minute. Two minutes later the Miners struck gold, with Bohdan besting Wolf Pack GK Kendal Stovall to give her side the early lead. Cayman Tamez vied to make it a 2-0 advantage, but Stovall registered the save in the 28th minute.
Palmen then did her part, making three stops during the final 10 minutes of the opening stanza to preserve the 1-0 advantage at the break.
Nevada would rally, scoring twice in the final 26 minutes of the match to slip past UTEP. The Miners received shots from both Emerson Kidd (82’) and Kristen Prevosto (86’) in an attempt to equalize, but it wasn’t in the cards.
UTEP will wrap up its stay in California by playing at UC Davis at 2 p.m. MT Sunday.
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