The Nevada women’s soccer team came home Thursday night hoping to break a nine-match losing streak dating back to Aug. 22. However, the Air Force Falcons held on after a first-half goal by Kendall Ripley, Air Force forward, to win 1-0.
Rippley’s goal came in the ninth minute of action from a run into the box, where she cut back to her right foot and fired a low shot past Alyssa Szarlacki, Nevada goalkeeper.
Air Force continued to put pressure on Nevada, keeping the ball in their half and taking multiple shots on goal. The Wolf Pack finally got two shots in the 13th and 16th minutes of action, but both were off-target.
Caeli Sherman, Air Force forward, subbed into the match following an offsides call against Rylee Husted, Nevada forward, and immediately had a shot that went just wide. Minutes later, a bad pass by Nevada’s Szarlacki led to another shot by Rippley that ricocheted off the post.
Szarlacki would be forced to make three more saves in the following minutes, including an impressive leaping save to deny Sherman and force a corner kick. Szarlacki blocked another shot after the corner kick to keep the score 1-0.
Both teams would make substitutions before the half, with Gianna Hall, Nevada midfielder, making an instant impact by taking the Pack’s closest shot of the half in the 39th minute, sailing just wide left of the goal.
The Falcons attacked just before halftime with two more shots that just missed the target, giving Air Force a total of seven shots on goal in the first 45 minutes. Nevada did not muster a single shot on target in the first half, with three attempts at goal in total.
Both teams came out of the break with similar lineups from the first half with Air Force playing in a 3-4-3 formation and Nevada in a 4-1-4-1 formation.
The Falcons earned an early corner kick before Nevada went on the attack, pushing the ball up to Serene Gronauer, Nevada forward, who had two shots saved by Kylie McElroy, Air Force goalkeeper, in the 55th minute.
Back-and-forth play would continue, with another shot by Rippley forcing a save by Szarlacki with less than 30 minutes to play. Nevada would sub in Emily Rich, Nevada forward, in place of Husted, and up the pressure on the Air Force defense.
Another substitute for Nevada, Ava Wees, forward, would nearly score a backheel shot in front of the net off a pass from Gronauer, but McElroy made the save for Air Force. The Falcons would take the ball to the far corner hoping to eat up time with only 10 minutes remaining on the clock.
Eventually, the Pack would regain possession and mount a final push for a goal. Trinity Sandridge, Nevada forward, narrowly missed a shot, before an injury occurred on the following play. Rich collided with Jordan Dillingham, Air Force defender, falling to the ground on the sideline.
After a brief pause, play resumed with Husted subbing in for Rich and a free kick awarded to Nevada from the 20-yard line. The kick landed in front of the net where a scrum of players fought for possession. At first, it appeared Nevada had scored, but it was ruled offsides and late match drama ensued, with Nevada getting one more attempt at goal on a header from Wees that bounced off the post.
The final whistle blew moments later, giving Air Force a narrow 1-0 victory and their first in conference play.
Nevada had four shots on goal and 10 total shots in the second half, led by Sandridge with three shots, two on target, and four players with two shots each.
Air Force had 16 shots with eight being on target, led by Rippley with five and Sherman with four. Annika Jost, Air Force defender, gets credited with the assist on Rippley’s match-winning goal.
Nevada (2-10, 0-3) looks to win at home on senior night, Oct. 6 vs Colorado College.
Andrew Maples can be reached via email dominicgutierrez@unr.edu or via X @d_m_g_16
