After a flurry of goals in the first half, the women’s soccer team found themselves trailing the Williams Ephs 2-1 going into halftime. Despite a valiant effort, the score remained that way for the rest of the game, giving the Cardinals a loss in their season opener.
The Lady Cards have now gone 23 years without a win against their Eph rivals.
“Of course we were all a bit intimidated due to our past experiences against Williams, hence our slow start in the first half,” said Co-captain Natalie Cohen ’06. “But after getting into the game and realizing that we were capable of taking control, it became very evenly matched, especially in the second half. The chances were being made, but we couldn’t quite score the goals.”
Ana Sani opened the scoring for the Ephs twelve minutes into the game. Terri Van Horn added a second goal ten minutes later for Williams on an assist from Sani, giving the Ephs a 2-0 lead.
“At first I was worried [when Williams took the lead],” said Marissa Trevisan ’09. “But then I realized that this was a team we could compete with. Since they went ahead early in the game, we would have plenty of time to try to amount a comeback.”
“It was tough when Williams got two goals pretty early in the game,” said Tri-Captain Caitlin Herlihy ’06. “We were definitely on our heels in the first part of the first half. [Coach] Eva [Bergsten Meredith] pointed out that it was like we were back in the old mentality: the other team is better—we have to be on defense. But after we were able to settle into the game and get some offense going, you could really feel the shift in momentum.”
Trevisan lent her hand to attempt a comeback just before the end of the first half, as the freshman netted the first goal of her college career on an assist from 2004 season leader in goals Nicole Gray ’08.
“The goal was key,” Herlihy said. “Nicole made a great pass and Marissa had a terrific shot. It really helped us mentally going into the second half.”
“It was pretty surreal,” Trevisan said of her score. “I never imagined I’d score in my first game. I was so excited that I threw my arms in the air and jumped into Nicole [Gray]’s arms. Afterwards I was pretty embarrassed.”
With the momentum, the Cardinals continued to try and press their advantage, but the chances were few and far between in the second half. “We didn’t have many scoring opportunities in the second half, although there was one play when a cross skidded off my left foot,” Trevisan said. “It was almost the same as the play which led to our first goal, so I was disappointed that I couldn’t finish it.”
Despite a despite a great effort, the Cardinals were blanked in the second half and found themselves on the losing end to Williams. But the team remained optimistic about the game.
“This certainly is a step in the right direction,” Cohen said. “Since we did well against a strong team like Williams, we can be confident that we have a couple of wins ahead of us.”
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