Shannon Welch/Staff Photographer

After hanging tough with powerhouse Roger Williams University for the first sixty minutes of its game on Tuesday, Oct. 8, the women’s soccer team fell 3-0 after a late collapse at home. It was the second straight scoreless loss for the Cardinals, as the team continued its offensive struggles.

In the first half of Tuesday’s game, the Cards competed evenly with Roger Williams, and had just as many scoring opportunities as the Hawks. While it was tied 0-0 in the first half, Kerry Doyle ’14 had a good chance of a through ball leading her toward the top of the box. Once she entered the box, she received some heavy contact from a RWU defender, but a non-call from the referee kept the game scoreless, with no chance at a penalty kick.

Another good chance for Wesleyan in the first half came in the form of a free kick from about forty yards out by Carly Swenson ’17 that sailed into the box, where Victoria Mathews ’16 received it. Mathews was able to control the ball, but couldn’t get a shot off in traffic. The Cardinals also earned a corner kick with about four minutes left in the half, but were unable to control the ball in the box enough for a shot.

“We wanted to go into the game and focus on things that we hadn’t been so successful with: controlling the ball, the first touch, and connecting two or three passes to build up an attack,” said Head Coach Eva Meredith. “It worked at times, and there were certainly some stretches, but we ended up getting in pressured situations so we couldn’t make good decisions.”

With ten minutes remaining in the first half, the visitors scored on a corner kick from the right side of the goal. The ball was put into the top left of the box and headed just past the outstretched arms of diving goalie Jessica Tollman ’15 before being kicked into the back of the net by Roger Williams for a 1-0 lead.

After a couple more good chances for the Cardinals in the second half, Roger Williams put the game out of reach with two quick goals in the 63rd and 65th minutes of the game, opening the team’s lead to 3-0.

“The second goal was demoralizing for us,” Meredith said. “The first goal was off a set piece on a corner kick, and [Roger Williams] is good at that. After that, we got organized, and we actually got better and better until their second goal.”

It was the only night game of the year for the Cardinals, played under the lights on the newly built artificial turf field inside Andersen Track behind the Freeman Center. The team’s regular home field is Jackson Field, which is grass. Roger Williams’ soccer teams have artificial turf fields as their home venues, which perhaps played to the vistors’ advantage on Tuesday night.

“The positive was that it was fun to play a night game on the turf at home,” Meredith said. “Unfortunately, [Roger Williams] is a turf team. The ball was faster and we couldn’t handle it as well as they could, and you could see that in their one and two-touch passing.”

After playing as a defensive back for the first half of this season, Doyle moved up to an attacking position for Tuesday night’s game, where she had played her previous three years for the Cardinals.

“I just wanted to throw something else in there to get going offensively,” Meredith said regarding Doyle’s change in position. “I wanted to see if we could play a good, solid defense without her back there because I want to have her play some minutes [on offense] here and there.”

The Cardinals’ next game is at home on Saturday against Little Three rival Williams College, which currently owns a 5-1-2 record overall, with a 2-1-1 record in NESCAC matchups. The Cardinals are 1-5-3 going into the game, while they are still looking for their first NESCAC win after starting 0-3-2 in conference play.

Although the result on Tuesday may not have been ideal for the Cardinals, Meredith believes that the game served as good preparation for the team’s matchup against Williams. After the game, Meredith talked to her team and told them to expect the same level of play from the Ephs on Saturday.

“[Roger Williams] is very similar in their style of play and speed of play to Williams,” Meredith said. “Come Thursday, Friday practice, we’re going to just hammer home some attacking stuff, set pieces, and some aggressive play in the box.”