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Lum’s goal wins home-opener for YSU
Second-half substitute scores to help Youngstown State win home opener
By DAN HINER
YOUNGSTOWN
Last season Kyler Lum, a forward and midfielder on the Youngstown State women’s soccer team, found herself on the bench due to injury for half the year.
Lum sat out the Penguins’ season opener against Canisius on Friday because the coaches were afraid of another injury. But Lum started the second half of YSU’s home opener on Monday and scored the game-winning goal two minutes into the half.
The Penguins beat St. Bonaventure 1-0 at Farmers National Field after Lum lined up for a penalty kick and snuck the ball into the bottom left corner of the net.
Both teams had trouble with their offenses in the first half. By halftime, the Penguins outshot the Bonnies 5-3 but neither team registered a shot on goal. Both teams also attempted two corner kicks and didn’t account for a save from either goalkeeper during the first 45 minutes of play.
Lum said the first 15 minutes of the game were “a little bit rough” but the team picked up its intensity in the end of the first half and took advantage of opportunities in the second.
“I think as the game went on we picked up momentum,” Lum said. “(We definitely put) higher pressure on them, which they weren’t expecting. And I think that we closed it out pretty well.”
YSU head coach Fabio Boateng said Lum has been an important part of the program over the last three seasons and expects her to bounce back from her injury-plagued season in 2016 to contribute when needed in her senior year.
“As you saw today, she’s all banged up already. We wanted to give her some playing time in Friday’s game, but it was too physical so we thought we should save her for today,” Boateng said. “Whether Kyler gives me five minutes or eight minutes, it’s always 100 percent.”
Boateng said improving the back line of the defense was a focal point of their offseason. He said the defense didn’t play up to his standard last year and he knew it needed to improve if they wanted to win in 2017.
“If you look at our record last season, we conceded a lot of goals. In the preseason we spent a lot of time with our back line centrally so the goal is to press the team aggressively and keep everything in front of us,” Boateng said. “That actually helps us. We’ve done a lot of work on our defense.”
Boateng said the win on Monday should be a confidence booster for the early part of the season. He said the team performed well in the first home game, but they also beat St. Bonaventure, a team that beat the Penguins 6-0 last year.
“Like I said, last year’s record wasn’t too good,” Boateng said. “And then you start the season with a heartbreaking loss in overtime. Then you come to your own field to open your home slate and you get a 1-0 (win) from the team that beat you 6-0 last year. That’s a big win for the girls.”
Lum said the team doesn’t want to lose at home during the season and the players want to perform best on their home field.
“I think going into this game we were obviously nervous and these are our new jerseys —we wanted to wear them proud. I think we did really well,” she said.