A tough first half put Allen Community College’s women in a hole too deep to escape Saturday.
The Red Devils trailed visiting Highland 2-0 at the break.
And despite dominating possession pretty much for the opening, the Red Devil scoring chances kept coming up empty.
Keimari Simons punched in a goal with about 15 minutes left, but the Red Devils could draw no closer in a 2-1 setback.
“We had our opportunities,” Red Devil head coach Jeremy McGinnis said. “There’s no other sport besides hockey where you can dominate like that and still not score.”
Allen came within an eyelash of scoring twice.
Sophomore Audrey Smith had the ball, and an apparent opening to the net, but a referee’s whistle for an infraction well behind her nullified the advantage.
“It was very big,” McGinnis said. “I’m not blaming the referee, but it didn’t help, that’s for sure.”
Then, with Allen pressing the action in the final 2 ½ minutes, Smith had another shot just inside the box, but it was just off. A rebound shot also was blocked.
The Highland players screamed with jubilation once the clock hit :00.
They may have had reason to celebrate. McGinnis noted Allen defeated this same Highland team 5-1 on the road in September.
“You could see what it means to them,” he said.
Allen also ended the match without the services of Jillien Muehlberger, one of the team’s spark plugs. She exited late in the match after a violent collision at midfield.
“She’s been battling lower back stuff,” McGinnis said. “I’d been hoping to get up a couple of goals today and get her some more time off. It just didn’t happen.”
Allen (7-6 overall; 4-4 in Jayhawk Conference) is at Central Community College on Wednesday.
