After starting off their season with a strong 2-2 tie against the pre-season consensus number 1 ranked Williams Ephs, the Cardinals stumbled last Monday against Salve Regina, losing 1-3 at home. For their third game of the season, and their first away game of the year, Women’s soccer traveled to Waterville, Maine on Saturday to take on their NESCAC foe, the Colby Mules. Similar to the Williams game, the Cards had an opportunity to win the match in the last seconds of overtime, but unfortunately the winning strike bounced off the cross bar, sealing the team’s 0-1-2 start to the season. The game finished with an identical score to the Williams game, as the Cards drew the Mules 2-2 in double OT.

“We started the season really well with the tie against Williams,” said goalie Claire Colton ’12. “But these last two games were disappointing. The tie against Colby was especially hard because we were so close to winning at the end.”

The Cards jumped out to an early lead against the Mules, as Kaylin Berger ’13 scored an unassisted goal just 4:28 into the game. The Cardinals kept up the momentum and held the Colby attack at bay until the 40th minute, when a Colby player broke through the Cardinal defense and scored an unassisted goal to tie the game before the half. In the second, the two teams remained tied until the 87th minute, when Colby sailed a ball past Colton to go up 2-1 with just under two and a half minutes left in regulation.

However, the Cardinals roared back, and just 20 seconds later Dasha Battelle ’12 evened the game off a pass from Laura Kurash ’13 to send the game into overtime. In overtime the Cardinals dominated, with a combined seven shots on goal in the two overtimes—compared to Colby’s zero shots on goal. Unfortunately, the Cardinals were unable to convert any of their shot attempts, and are now 0-0-2 in NESCAC play.

“Even though these last two games were disappointing, the team is still optimistic about the season, and we are looking to right the ship against Holyoke on Tuesday,” Colton said.

The Cardinals resume play at home on Tuesday against Mt. Holyoke, taking on the Lyons on Jackson field at 4:30.