MUSKEGON – The Muskegon Risers women’s indoor soccer team got a glimpse of where it would like to be in a season or two, courtesy of the Cincinnati Sirens, who came to town on Saturday and handed the Risers a 9-2 loss.

“We knew they were a really strong team,” said Muskegon head coach Debbie Pekel. “They’re super competitive and we knew the challenge. But we had some good moments and we’re hopeful that we can become a team of that level.”

The Sirens play in the Women’s Premier Soccer League, and wasted no time showing off their abilities, taking a 3-0 lead after the first quarter.

Scoring for the Sirens in the first quarter were Alivia Milesky, Avery May and Laura Rose.

In the second quarter, Muskegon was much stronger defensively, surrendering just one goal to Jenna Prathapa and trailing 4-0 at halftime.

After halftime, Muskegon quickly fell behind 6-0 when Kate Drummond and Jayna Searles each scored for Cincinnati.

The Risers responded at the 9:05 mark of the third quarter when America Lemus found the back of the net to cut the deficit to 6-1.

Just two minutes later, Rebekah Cotton added a goal for Muskegon to cut the Risers’ deficit to 6-2.

“I was surprised by that, after being down for so long,” Pekel said about the fight her team showed in the third quarter. “It’s very easy to not be disciplined with that deficit, but we came out and played really strong and believed we could fight back.”

In the fourth quarter, Milesky, Prathapa and Rose all scored for Cincinnati to make the final score 9-2.

In total, Muskegon was outshot 21-5 on the night.

The Risers are now 1-1 overall and will return to the field next Saturday when they host Muskegon Community College.