As the skies above North Field threatened rain, the women’s soccer team saw a stormy streak of its own end against the Camels of Connecticut College. Thanks to goals by Corinne Case ’05 and Makenna Goodman ’07 and 10 Kelly McFarling ’05 saves, the Lady Cards (2-5, 1-3 NESCAC) pulled out a 2-1 victory to halt a four game losing streak and post their first NESCAC victory in three years. The Cards’ win came despite the wet weather and being out-shot 29-nine.
The first half consisted of numerous missed opportunities on both sides deep in their respective offensive zones. Wild momentum swings dominated the action beginning less than three minutes in when Lauren Ogden ’07 deflected a shot away from the Wes goal and regained possession for the team. In the sixth minute, Case barreled through an opponent to steal the ball, but could not find the back of the net.
Shortly after, Ogden broke through the Camel front to go one-on-one with the net-minder, only to shoot wide right. The referee ruled the ball last touched a Camel, thus awarding the Cards a corner kick. Delia Mueller ’07 sailed the ensuing shot high, but Case skied to head it past Conn. College’s goalie Kate Simmons and gave the Birds a 1-0 lead.
But as has happened so often this season, the score quickly evened up. Camel Jackie Wade, who ran wild much of the contest, surged through and passed off to teammate Analisse Rios, who beat McFarling to her left, knotting the score with 27:04 left in the half.
Less than a minute later, McFarling made one of her most spectacular and risky stops of the day. She dove forward to steal the ball from the advancing forward, taking her out in the process. Minutes later, Connecticut College blew another golden opportunity when a corner kick sailed over the entire team, landing on the other side of the field. Such was the way the remainder of the half played out, as McFarling and the Cards hunkered down and thwarted chance after chance as the clock ticked down to halftime.
“It was like a street fight out there,” Goodman said. “We wanted it more. That was obvious.”
At the start of the second half, the Camels burst through the Wesleyan front and had yet another point blank shot on goal, but it deflected harmlessly off McFarling’s left leg. The defensive stop was quickly duplicated with offensive success, as Goodman hammered home a beautiful pass from Nicole Gray ’08 to hand the lead back to the Red and Black.
This time, the edge held despite numerous Camel chances. In the 58 minute, Case stole what otherwise would have been a one-on-one play for the Camels, and McFarling stopped several opportunities with reckless abandon. Simmons kept the Camels close by making diving saves on consecutive shots as the Cardinals tried to pad their lead.
In the 66 minute, Conn. College’s Lucy Strong took a shot high and wide right, and less than four minutes later, Wade was all alone in the eighteen-yard box, but kicked her shot over the goal, much to the home crowd’s relief. After less than 90 additional seconds of play, Mueller deflected away what would have otherwise been a sure goal.
Like the final minutes of the first half, the end of the game featured frantic efforts by the Camels to even the score with aggressive play. They had numerous corner kicks that repeatedly sailed wide, and their final shot came with less than 10 seconds to go. It had McFarling beat high, but the lead was saved when the ball hit the crossbar, preserving the Cardinals’ 2-1 triumph.
“We managed to pressure them higher up on the field and not let them get into a rhythm,” said head coach Eva Bergsten-Meredith. “Great effort from every player on the Wes team.”
The Cards have a pair of road games this week, the first of which is Thursday against Springfield. Two days later they head to Maine to square off against the Bobcats of Bates in a NESCAC battle with the possibility of winning their second consecutive conference match.
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