JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The latter half of the Jacksonville University women's soccer match against Bucknell was thunderous, both literally and figuratively. At the closing of the half, flashes of lightening in the area forced a 30-minute delay, and while neither team was able to find the back of the net in the first frame, it didn't take long for them to score in the second. Unfortunately for the Dolphins, their three-game winning streak was snapped in the 2-1 decision.

"I saw us get outworked, outplayed and outhustled in the second half," said Head Coach Brian Copham. "We didn't match their energy coming out of the lightening delay and it showed. The first half was pretty back-and-fourth and quite even, but coming out of the locker room we weren't ready to work as hard as we needed to in the second half."

After 48 minutes of scoreless soccer, the Bison used a defensive misclear to put one on the scoreboard. As JU keeper Sarah Sierra went to track the ball in the far left corner of the field, it was accidentally cleared to Bucknell's Madison Loos who cleaned it up with a goal.

The Bison's 1-0 lead lasted five minutes before Kaitlyn Bassett connected with Joy Grove at the 53-minute mark to tie the match at 1-1. Bucknell went on to outshoot the Dolphins, 13-5, in the half and Kendall Ham posted the game winner at 68:58.

What the box score doesn't capture is Sierra's stellar outing in the net. The keeper's quick reactions kept the Bison from scoring another goal in the closing ten minutes of the match. Ham's goal was recorded when she caught the rebound from a shot she'd taken three seconds earlier. She was five yards away and Sierra was able to record the first shot for a save and narrowly missed blocking the second. The same situation occurred at 81:11 but in that instance, Sierra saved both of Danielle Piccirilli attempts.

"Sarah made a bunch of really good saves," continued Copham. "Those two back-to-back where she blocked them was tough. When it's that close you can't really catch the ball so you get your hands behind it and clear it away. She did a great job. We've just got to do a better job in front of her to eliminate those dangerous chances."   

In the setback, JU fell to 5-3-1 while Bucknell improved to 5-3. Next, the Dolphins visit Furman on Friday, Sept. 19 in a 7 p.m. match.