GAMBIER, Ohio -- Playing in front of their home crowd for the first time this season, the Kenyon College women's soccer team (0-2) battled through a hot day on Mavec Field against a tough opponent, Baldwin Wallace University (2-0). The Owls had a solid showing and applied good pressure throughout the game, but the Yellow Jackets stung the Kenyon defense twice, winning 2-0 and spoiling the Owls home opener.

The teams went back and forth for much of the match, and the squads were separated by just one shot over the 90 minutes. Baldwin Wallace took nine shots and put five on target, while Kenyon fired off eight attempts, half of which were on goal. The visitors were the early aggressors as eight of their nine shots came in the first half before Kenyon's defense did well to limit BWU to just one second-half attempt.

Despite the early pressure, Kenyon's Ariel Kite held up in goal and made a pair of saves just seconds into the game. In the second minute, BWU got a clean look at the goal, but Kite dove to deflect the ball off her outstretched hands to prevent an early deficit, and she recovered to save the follow–up attempt as well. Kenyon survived another close call in the 18th minute when a ball bounced off the crossbar, but the Yellow Jackets kept pestering the Owls before finally breaking through on a nice give-and-go by BWU's Kalyn Rich and Sydney Rice in the 27th minute.

Thanks to strong play in the middle of the field, the Owls managed to make some dangerous attacks over the rest of the half, but the home team was unable to finish off any of their offensive chances. 

In the second half, Kenyon came up short on another offensive push deep into BWU territory, and the visitors made the most of an immediate counterattack in the 62nd minute before the Owls defense could get set. Rice did it herself this time, driving the ball to the left side of the box before cutting past a Kenyon defender and sneaking a shot past Kite for BWU's second goal.

The Owls pushed to get on the board with five shots over the remaining 28 minutes, but they could not break through with their season's first goal. Claire Pruner led Kenyon with two shots on goal off the bench, while Julianna Granetzke and Margot Kuller also had on-target attempts. Jenna Michel and Emily Copeland matched Pruner's team-leading two total shots, and both forwards helped Kenyon keep the pressure on. Kuller joined defender Brooke Heis as the two Owls position players to play full time.

Next, Kenyon will have a chance to defend its home field when it welcomes Alma College to Gambier. The Owls have nearly a week before the match, which will be played at 2 p.m. on Saturday, September 7, on Mavec Field.