The Bulldogs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half and held on to that lead throughout the second half to come away with their fourth win of the season.

With the loss, the Huskies fell to 4-5 on the season and 2-4 in GLIAC play.

First-year Huskies coach Melissa Kuhar was not happy with the way her team played in the first half, as they dug themselves a two-goal hole they could not work their way out of.

“What I told our team after is you can’t come out, not execute, and then dig yourself a hole,” she said. “That’s exactly what we did. Better second half, but a shocking first half, which is frustrating because it’s not our team.”

Michigan Tech defender Grace Hoeppner controls the ball during a game against Ferris State Sunday at Kearly Stadium in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

Kuhar felt that the Huskies lost sight of the smaller details that make up a larger game, and that led to the defensive breakdowns they had, especially in the first half.

“It’s simple details, right? You know, passing to feet, and keeping the ball on the ground, and just, it’s all the little things that we weren’t doing that are just going to kick you in the butt.

“That’s what it was. I mean, that’s the first time I think I’ve exploded on our team at halftime, and it kind of woke them up, I guess, but it was, like, too late. They scored two and it’s too late.”

The Bulldogs scored their first goal of the game in the 16th minute as Haley Buckman found time and space before calling for a pass from Katherine Welch. Welch got the ball over to her, and she knocked it past Huskies keeper Bri Barrows.

Welch continued to figure in the Bulldogs’ offense as 12:27 later, she stole the ball from a Huskies defender and found herself alone with only Barrows to beat. She kicked the ball to Barrows’ right and into the net to give Ferris State a 2-0 lead with just over 16 minutes left in the first half.

“We dug a hole,” Kuhar said. “We dug a deep hole. Credit to them, I mean, they capitalized on our mistakes, and they had everything. The scouting report panned out exactly how it was, and we just didn’t execute to what I was asking. It’s the simple details, and it kicked us in the butt.”

Kuhar felt that the Bulldogs attacked the ball aggressively, and the Huskies could not create the time and space they needed to in order to create offense of their own.

“They’re just speedy, and they know how to get behind a ball, or behind the back line, and get a ball in there,” she said. “That was exactly their game plan. Knock it around, long ball, and run. They had the advantage of the wind a bit, I think, in that first (half). So, it was just, again, also our shape, and our just not going to a ball, and meeting a ball, killed us.

“The simple details of what you need to do to put a full game together, we did not execute on that. I think it’s not maybe what she (Welch) did, but more what we didn’t do.”

The Huskies played better in the second half, with the wind behind them, and they got more chances in and around Bulldogs keeper Morgan Fillion, who made five of her eight saves in the half. However, Kuhar felt there was still a lot of room for improvement.

“I think (we had) a way better second half, but still not what it needed to be,” she said. “Now we have some bumps and bruises we’re going to have to kind of figure out.

“It was a better second half. I like our response, but, I mean, still, we struggled to keep the ball on the ground and move it and possess (the ball) like I want to possess. We kind of fell into that, kicking it long, and it’s just not going to work. It’s not the style of play we want to play.”

UP NEXT

The Huskies return to action on Friday, when they host Northern Michigan for a game at 4 p.m. at Kearly Stadium in Houghton.