MUSKOGEE, Oklahoma – The 2002 Lady Ram soccer season ended on Tuesday with a 6-0 loss at Bacone College in the first round of the Red River Conference playoffs.

The game remained scoreless for ten minutes as the players adjusted to a game time temperature in the upper-forties. Eventually, though, the powerful offense of top-seeded Bacone kicked into gear.

Despite the disappointing finish to the season, head coach Steve Jones had nothing but positive things to say about his players.

“We played a great team today and they beat us, but we never quit playing hard. I’m proud of the effort everyone put forth. Obviously we’d rather have won the game, but it just wasn’t our day.”

The Lady Rams knew they were facing an uphill challenge before the team bus even left campus. Not only were they facing the fourth-ranked team in the region, but they also were heading to Muskogee without two of their top players. Midfielder Jessica Elder suffered a broken leg in Friday’s victory over University of the Ozarks, and conference scoring leader Jessica Carrion had a delayed reaction to an injury from Sunday’s game against Texas A&M-International.

“She apparently hurt her MCL in Laredo,“ explained Jones. “She was fine right after the game, but it got worse on Monday. Her knee was so swollen that she couldn’t even walk.”

Carrion scored the first six of Wesleyan’s seven goals in Sunday’s victory over the Lady Dustdevils before being pulled from the game with 20 minutes remaining.

“I saw she had a slight limp,” said Jones, “and thought I’d better get her out before something bad happens. Unfortunately, it had already happened. We just didn’t find out until a day later.”

“It’s not a major injury, though. She’ll be fine with a little rest,” he added.

The loss of both players was felt against Bacone. Without Carrion as the spark, Wesleyan couldn’t seem to get the offense fired up. They managed only one shot on goal, an early attempt by freshman Uduma Ogidi. Elder’s absence in the middle of the field also hurt as the Lady Rams had trouble stalling Bacone’s attack. As a result, Wesleyan allowed an uncharacteristically high 15 shots at freshman keeper Katrina Fishback. She saved nine.

Scoring one goal apiece for the Lady Warriors were Connie Beaver, Jennifer Scheetz, Joy Donaho, Jennifer Haught, Brandice Aitken, and Stephanie Thompson. Keeper Samantha Davis needed just the one save for her seventh shutout of the season.

Bacone advances to the second round of the tournament, and will host the winner of Tuesday’s match between College of the Southwest and Northwood University on Friday.

For Wesleyan, the season ends with a 9-8 record, and Jones is already looking forward to next year.

“We’re only going to lose one player [senior Sara Castro] from this squad,” he said, “and our underclassmen have now had a year to get used to this level of competition. We’ll be back.”