Frostburg and WVSU play a scoreless draw

Oct. 12—FROSTBURG — Frostburg State and West Virginia State University (WVSU) played a scoreless draw on Wednesday at Bobcat Stadium.

"Obviously we feel frustrated," Frostburg head coach Brian Parker said. "Sometimes soccer is favorable to you, sometimes not. We had a player up for most of the game and couldn't generate enough chances."

The Bobcats (10-1-1, 7-1-1 Mountain East Conference) dominated shots with a 32-2 advantage but were unable to capitalize.

"It looked like a 5-3-1 at the end, a good tactic on their end to counter the one speedy forward," Parker said of what WVSU did to prevent shots from going in. "I give them credit for doing that, that's what losing a player made them do."

The first possible chance of a score came about 12 minutes in for the Yellow Jackets (6-4-2, 5-2-2 MEC).

On a fastbreak, WVSU's Esther Dhiramo collided with Frostburg goalie Ashley Bilger. Dhiramo was awarded a penalty kick, but Bilger saved the shot.

"I feel fortunate in a way that we drew the game," Parker said. "That was a clear foul, the proper call. She did her job and made the shooter own it. Own the middle third and made a great save on it. It's interesting how players can sometimes immediately make amends, that's a great example."

About 10 minutes later, Dhiramo and Mary Greco were chasing a loose ball near the sideline. They collided and Dhiramo appeared to kick Greco and was given a red card and ejected.

"It's unfortunate their player got ejected," Parker said. "I think it was the right call, but it's not something anyone wants to happen."

The Yellow Jackets played the rest of the game down one player, but the Bobcats failed to take advantage.

Frostburg attempted 12 shots in the first half, but most of them were long distance from at least 20 yards out.

The Bobcats tried several times to score from long distance but continued to miss by a wide margin.

"They bunkered and defended big time with numbers," Parker said. "We were trying to chip away at the flanks and trying to get crosses in. We were trying to connect passes, we were trying to shoot from distance."

There was no score at halftime, but Frostburg dominated shots in the first half 12-1.

In the second half, the Bobcats continued to take long shots that missed the mark. Frostburg had several shots that nearly went in, but none were able to find the back of the net.

"I think they saw we were desperate at the end trying to get chances on the frame," Parker said. "I don't think this shot is what we were going for most of the time. They frustrated us enough to resort to any chance we could try and create."

Frostburg had several shots that just missed the mark, arguably the closest was from Carolyn DeSena midway through the second half. She fired from about 25 yards out and hit the crossbar.

With about six minutes left in the half, the Bobcats set up a corner kick from the right side. A header appeared to go in, but was waved off. The referee wanted to stop other contact in the box, but was unable to stop the play before the header.

"It wasn't unfair, the whistle did blow," Parker said. "But the drama of seeing the header go in that would've won us the game was a little frustrating to witness it. It was the proper call, he wanted to stop some physical contact."

The Bobcats finished with a 7-0 advantage in corner kicks.

Laura Galindo recorded 15 saves for WVSU while Bilger saved two for Frostburg.

The draw was the Bobcats first since Oct. 8 of last year in a 2-2 match with Wheeling. It's also the first scoreless draw since Sept. 26, 2021 against Notre Dame.

While Frostburg's offense struggled, the defense stood out. The Yellow Jackets were held to one shot in each half.

"Our defense is awesome, they put some speedy players up front and tried to get over us," Parker said. "There were some chances here and there, but I think our center backs are terrific athletes."

The Bobcat defense hasn't gone unnoticed as Cat Smith was named MEC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday for the second time this season.

Last week against Concord, she helped Frostburg's defense hold the Mountain Lions to six shots on goal in a 2-1 win. Concord is ranked in the top five in scoring in the country.

"She has become an outstanding collegiate center back," Parker said. "It's happened right before our eyes. She's a tough, physical, smart player. She's a leader and a voice and she's really driven us defensively."

While the game won't count as a loss, Parker said it still felt like one.

"We were up a player for about 60 minutes and it happened to be their best player that was taken out of the game," he said. "Of course we feel frustrated about it. Because of the way the PK went and the foul, it felt it may not happen for us. It was kind of an interesting game."

Frostburg is at West Virginia Wesleyan on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Jordan Kendall is a Sports Writer for the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @JKendallCTN.