The North Greenville Trailblazers pulled within a goal late in the second half but were unable to complete the comeback Wednesday afternoon, falling 2-1 to the Bobcats of Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, North Carolina. Finley Lloyd scored for the second consecutive match for North Greenville, while goalkeeper Cadie Pendergrass finished with nine saves. The loss moved NGU to 0-5-1 overall and 0-2-1 in conference play, while Lees-McRae improved to 3-1-1 overall and 2-0-1 in conference play.
Lees-McRae opened the scoring in the 20th minute. After Pendergrass stopped an attempt from Addy Geiss, the Bobcats earned a corner and converted shortly afterward when Kamden Lewis scored at the 19:45 mark. Brooke Allen and Kylie Gutierrez were credited with assists on the goal. Pendergrass made three saves in the first half as North Greenville entered halftime trailing just 1-0 despite Lees-McRae holding an 8-3 advantage in shots.
North Greenville became much more active offensively in the second half, producing eight shots. Lees-McRae, however, doubled its lead at the 63:25 mark when Geiss scored her first goal of the season to give the Bobcats a 2-0 advantage.
The Trailblazers responded less than 10 minutes later. Natalie Tardie set up Lloyd, who found the back of the net at 72:47 to cut the deficit to 2-1. Tardie picked up her first assist of the season on the play.
North Greenville could not produce a second goal over the final 17 minutes. Lloyd finished with two shots and put both on goal, while Isabella Gyurich recorded two attempts with one on target. Parker Christmas also placed a shot on goal. Tardie finished with two shots and the assist.
Pendergrass played all 90 minutes and recorded nine saves, including six in the second half.Â
North Greenville returns to Pepsi Stadium on Saturday, September 19 to take on the Flying Fleet of Erskine College.
