In a tiring game for players of both teams on Saturday, the women’s soccer team restored some of their spirit by playing its best game of the season against Middlebury. Despite the 0-0 draw, the team showed some of its talent and promise for the rest of the season.
It was the team’s first shutout in 25 games, going back to a 2-0 blanking of Springfield during the 2003 campaign. Andrea Guiliano’09 earned her first career shutout in goal for the Cardinals, making a total of nine saves in the game.
“We played our best game of the season against Middlebury,” said Head Coach Eva Bergsten-Meredith. “We worked hard and played good soccer for more than 90 minutes which we have not done in the previous games.”
Although the Cardinals failed to score a goal in this game, the general performance and confidence of the whole team has improved greatly since their last game against Smith.
“I believed our confidence was higher than in our previous three games,” said Guiliano. “We believed that we had the ability to beat Middlebury, and we do have the ability. It was amazing to see us live up to our potential. Everybody on the team has amazing ability. Each and every teammate brings her own talent into the game, and on Saturday we finally pieced it all together and showed who we really are.”
Middlebury had 14 shots in total, nine of which are on goal, while Wesleyan only had ten shots, four of which are on goal. But the offensive players showed great determination while trying to get the winning goal. Meanwhile the defensive players tried their best to keep Middlebury from scoring, which they successfully accomplished.
Marissa Trevisan ’09 also shared the same view as her coach and teammate. “We tried a new formation which was a major factor in our improved play against Middlebury. After the Smith game, we knew we had to come out with intensity and play a full 90 minutes, or in this case, a full 110 minutes. We did just that. We came ready and played as a unit. Our determination really paid off.”
The next challenge awaiting the Cardinals is an away game at Connecticut College. When they last met in 2004, the Cardinals beat the Camels by a score of 2-1. The players are very optimistic and confident about the upcoming games, which will determine the Cardinal’s playoff hopes.
“I believe that if we play like this for the rest of the season, we can turn around and be a force to be reckoned with when it comes to making the tournament,” said Guiliano.
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