One defensive slip-up was the difference in the Massachusetts women’s soccer team’s latest 1-0 double-overtime loss to Virginia Commonwealth at home on Saturday.

Commodore’s forward Kailyn Slade cut through the Minutewomen’s center defense and beat goalkeeper Danielle Kriscenski in a one-on-one opportunity at the top of the box for the game winner in the 106th minute.

“It’s a play that we let develop,” UMass coach Ed Matz said of his team’s lack of execution on the game-winner.” We allowed her to cut in, we allowed her to turn and face the field and our center of defenders let the ball slip in there.

“It shouldn’t have happened.It’s something we work on, and we let it develop.”

While that single miscue eventually spelled the end of the Mintewomen in Saturday’s game, there were plenty of missed opportunities that played into the loss as well.

Despite being outshot 14-13 for the game, UMass held a 7-4 advantage on corner kicks, all of which came in the second half and overtime.

A major reason the Minutewomen couldn’t capitalize on their corners was the defensive presence of Commodore’s defender Casey Boyer. Boyer’s 6-foot height prevented UMass from getting in any type of offensive rhythm.

“She won a lot of those balls, and if she didn’t win them, their goalkeeper did a good job of coming in,” Matz said of Boyer’s impact. “Even if she didn’t win it (the corner kicks), she impacted it because our girls weren’t in a great possession to win the ball.

“That’s Division 1 soccer. We had some opportunities and we couldn’t capitalize.”

Even though the loss ended the Minutwomen’s three-game winning streak –their longest in the past two seasons – their play on the field was nothing to scoff at.

Before giving up the game winner, Krisecenski put forth one of her best games of the season. The redshirt freshman registered seven stops – five of them coming in a challenging first half – including multiple leaping and blocked saves that kept the Minutewomen in the game.

Matz acknowledged that he’s seen improved play from his goalkeeper as the season has progressed.

“I’m just so impressed with, a lot of things we did today, we would not have done in the first week of our games,” Matz said. “Danny coming out and winning 50/50 balls and colliding with a person. At the beginning of the year, she wouldn’t have done that.”

The fourth-year UMass coach also praised his team’s defensive performance, regardless of their mistake at the end of the game.

After being put to work through a challenging first half that saw two corner kicks and six shots by the Commodores, the Minutewomen defense controlled the pace of the game coming out of the intermission.

UMass was four minutes shy of completing its third shutoutand keeping VCU scoreless for the first time in seven games before Slade’s game-winner.

However, allowing only one goal to a Commodore team that scored 10 goals in their three games prior to Saturday also came out as a silver lining.

“We did a great job of being aggressive and not allowing them to get the balls into their forwards and turning and facing us,” Matz said. “Our defense keeps developing and they keep playing well.”

Joey Saade can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @Jsaade1225.