Alma, Mich. - The Alma College women's soccer team suffered a 2-1 setback at the hands of No. 20 Hope on Wednesday (Sept. 23) afternoon at Scotland Yard. Sophomore Whitnee Foote (Mt. Pleasant, Mich./Mt. Pleasant) was the lone goal scorer for the Scots, who fall to 2-5 overall and 1-4 in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Hope improves to a school-record 9-0 overall and 6-0 in the MIAA.

The Flying Dutch got on the board early, scoring in the seventh minute when Rylie Dalton tapped the ball in off of an Alma turnover. Dalton added another marker in the 34th minute to make it 2-0, shooting the ball past sophomore keeper Kelsey Postema (Marshall, Mich./Marshall) from 15 yards out.

In the second half, the Scots scored in the 57th minute when Junior Macayla Greiner (Hart, Mich./Hart) sent a pass into the box and Foote headed the ball just inside the right post to cut the deficit to one.

The Dutch held Alma to just five shots while tallying 16, including seven on net. Freshman Becca Gamble (Midland, Mich./Dow) made five saves while playing the entire second half.

The Scots are on the road for the next two matches, traveling to Calvin on Saturday, Sept. 26, and Trine on Tuesday, Sept. 29. Saturday's match against the Knights is scheduled for a Noon start. 

NOTES

• Three out of four losses in MIAA play have been by one goal.
• Whitney Foote has doubled her goal total from a year ago with a team-high four markers in seven games. Last season, Foote tallied two goals in 18 appearances.
• Macayla Greiner tied a season-high with her second assist, matching her assist total from her freshman campaign in 2013.

QUOTES

Head Coach Ashley Bingaman

On the team's performance after going down by two goals ...

"We've been training our reaction to when we go down a goal. Everyone knows what to do tactically when you go up a goal, but when you go down a goal its more emotional and mental. We've spent this whole week training how to control your emotions, how to not play with fear and harness that fear to turn it into something good. We did a lot of working the classroom and a lot of training and it definitely paid off today. We didn't get the full comeback, but we were so much better than when we've been down a goal in other games."

On the team's performance against Hope...

"A few mistakes cost us. Other than that, we walk away feeling happy. The girls are proud and the progress has been great. Just because we didn't win doesn't mean that we failed, and that's the message we got across. We played Hope hard and there is a reason they are undefeated and ranked 20th in the country."

On the play of Whitnee Foote...

"She has come such a long way this year. She is so hard-working. The team has just been playing more and more confident. She knew right where to put that ball. I'm happy for her and the team and I hope it keeps rolling."