STERLING, Colo.- The Beavers were unable to put together a complete performance in the club's opening match of the 2019 season, losing 2-0 to Northeast College (Nebr.). Coach Burnett saw her girls look uneasy in the first-half, a symptom of a majority-freshmen roster seeing its initial junior college action.
"It wasn't a bad first game," Burnett said. "There were obviously some freshman nerves that we had to try to get out of the way. The first-half, we weren't very dangerous. In the second-half, we decided to push up a little bit more and we grew more more confident.
"We gave a couple of goals back-to-back in the second-half that were frustrating because they could have been prevented. Just a lack of focus."
Burnett said that the score had the potential of being further inflated if it weren't for her sophomore goalkeeper Haven Johannsen.
"She played great," Burnett said. "It could have been a lot more than two (goals). She made a lot of great saves that she may not have made last year, so you could see the growth of confidence in her as well. She did really well to keep us in the game."
Though the Beavers were unable to find the back of the net, Burnett saw signs for encouragement.
"In the first-half, we weren't really able to get the ball up to them," she said. "In the second-half, we managed to hit the cross bar twice and the Northeast keeper made a great save on one of our long-distance shots. We became more dangerous in the second-half but we need to figure out how to make those plays up top."
Quickly, the Beavers will be given an opportunity to make amends, with Northeastern Junior College on the docket for tomorrow afternoon at 1 PM CT. Burnett has a feeling her team will be ready when kickoff arrives.
"It was seven-hours on the bus today, get off the bus, stretch, and play pretty much. The girls are starting to relax a bit more, especially the freshmen getting their first collegiate starts today. Hopefully the nerves don't play a part tomorrow and they come out with a bit more threat and effort tomorrow."