September 13, 2006

JACKSON - The Belhaven Blazers used a two goal performance from junior Kathryn Brusco to send the Millsaps women to its first home loss of the season, 2-1.

Belhaven (4-0) had the first real scoring threat of the game in the 19th minute, when midfielder Kathryn Brusco received a great cross and was left with a breakaway.  But Majors goalkeeper, Elizabeth Sooby held her ground, diving to her right to deny the first goal of the game.

With a little over 14 minutes left in the half, Sharon Warden, the Blazer freshman from Anaheim, Calif., had a shot from point-blank range that sailed just out of the reach of Sooby, but luckily Hayley Barber was standing in the back half of the net to deny Warden the goal.               

Millsaps (1-3) earned its first scoring opportunity with a little over 8:05 left on a Blazer hand ball, giving the Baton Rouge, La., freshman Meredith Harris a chance to tack on the first goal of the game.  Harris’ shot was denied by a defender standing in the box and the game remained scoreless.

Less than a minute later, the Majors lit up the scoreboard first.  After a great cross into the box from Bobbi Jones trickled right in front of the goal, Lauren Rochelle struck the ball in the back of the net to give Millsaps the early 1-0 edge.

The Blazers knotted the game in the 60th minute, after Brusco fired the ball into the upper right corner of the net off a Morgan Elrod cross.

Millsaps’ Megan Sullivan produced the next Majors scoring opportunity in the 70th minute.  The freshman drew a hard foul on Morgan Jackson just outside the box that led to a Jones free kick.  Nevertheless, the Blazer defense held strong and denied another scoring chance.

The Majors responded two minutes later, when Jones drew a yellow card off a Blazer defender inside the box that led to a Millsaps penalty kick. 

Millsaps however couldn’t capitalize, as Jones’ attempt was pushed wide to the right and kept the game knotted at 1-1.

In the 83rd minute, the Blazers persistent offense finally found the back of the net to take the lead, 2-1 after Brusco picked up her second goal of the game on a Catherine Dunst delivery.

That’s all Belhaven would need, as they held off a late Majors push to conserve the 2-1 victory.

The Majors will take a two-week road swing to Texas to face Dallas, Southwestern and Trinity, before returning home Sept. 29 to take on DePauw University.