St. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The Spring Hill College (SHC) women's soccer team began the 2017 season on Friday evening with a 5-0 loss to the Embry-Riddle University (ERAU) Eagles at the Flagler College Invitational on Saints Field.
 
The Eagles (1-0) jumped out to a 2-0 lead when Elvira Ramel found pay dirt in the 3^rd minute of play followed by a tally from Guro Naess Berge off an assist by Megan Smith early in the 6^th minute.
 
Elizabeth Allen made it 3-0 for ERAU in the 24^th minute after accepting a pass from Maria Schmiedhofer.
 
ERAU tacked on a fourth goal in the 56^th minute via a Mikayla Szalay score with an assist by Rachel Owens and ballooned the advantage to 5-0 in the 82^nd minute following a ball in the back of the net by Elizabeth Allen off Megan Smith's second assist of the match.
 
Transfer sophomore HP Fluharty (0-1) took the loss in her first collegiate start in-goal despite making three saves against seven shots by the Eagles. Sophomore Hannah Shankman stepped into goal for the second half to make seven saves against 13 shots. Fanny Kristiansson (1-0) earned the victory for ERAU with two saves versus three shots by the Badgers in 70 minutes time.
 
ERAU took five corner attempts to three for the Badgers and was caught offside four times to just once for SHC.
 
"I'm very happy with the fight we built over the game," said SHC head coach Allison Whitworth following the game. "We were able to shift our system to match a very good opponent. Several players, especially senior Aiesha Ledda and freshman Hannah Fogt, battled the entire game. We need to connect more passes and manage the pace of the game to get more chances. Our response in the second half was good. We just need to build every game."
 
The Badgers (0-1) will next face the Eckerd College Tritons (0-1) on Sunday at 11 a.m. at Saints Field.