After their impressive 2-2 overtime tie with Williams last weekend, the Wesleyan women’s soccer team hit their first road bump this season, falling to Salve Regina 1-3. Monday marked the first ever meeting of the two teams.

The Cardinals came out strong and controlled ball possession for the majority of the half with Dasha Battelle ’11 securing the center. Even with this possession control, Salve Regina scored first in the game at 20:16. One of Salve’s top players, Liz Galla ’12, managed to rush by the Cardinal defense with a burst of speed and finished with a low right-shot that passed by Wesleyan goalkeeper, Clare Colton ’12. The Cardinal defense was broken down a second time as Salve Regina secured their second goal, which was placed in the same low right corner at 27:20.

The Cardinals emerged after half time with a burst of energy, but this concentrated focus was not enough to get the Cardinals in a winning position. Kerry Doyle ’14 scored her second goal of the season through a transition goal. The Salve Regina goaltender bobbled a shot from Katrina Ellis-Ferrara ’13 and Doyle capitalized on the opportunity with a rebound goal. The Wesleyan offense had many other opportunities to score, outshooting Salve 22-9, but with the dynamic performance of the Salve Regina goalkeeper, the Wesleyan women were kept off the score board. Notably, Kaylin Berger ’13 took some beautiful free positions for the Cardinals that were moments of game changing potential for the Cardinals.

Salve Regina finished the afternoon with a final unassisted goal in the 58th minute.

The Cardinals travel to Colby on Saturday for a conference game. Last season the Cardinals handily beat the Mules 2-0, and the Cardinals now look to secure their first conference victory this season.