The women’s soccer team completed a 1-1 week with an overtime victory over Connecticut College on Saturday. The victory pushed the Cardinals (4-3, 2-2 NESCAC) into fifth place in the NESCAC after four of nine conference contests.
Earlier in the week the Cards dropped a well-played match 1-0 to Western Connecticut State University (WCSU), the eighth ranked Division III team in the nation and first ranked in the region. Both contests continued to demonstrate the strides this team has taken from last season.
WCSU entered Thursday’s contest on North Field averaging 3.65 goals per game, having tallied at least two goals in each of their first eight games. The Colonials presented the Cardinals with an ideal opportunity to measure themselves against the region’s best and the team did everything they could to seize the moment.
In the game vs. WCSU, the entire team stepped up to the challenge. When everyone shares the same mentality like that, we showed we can play at the level of a nationally ranked team. I don’t think [WCSU] was expecting such a showing on our part,“ Sam Blank ’09 said.
A balanced Cardinal attack managed fifteen shots while WCSU got off thirteen. The Cards thought they had broken through midway through the first half, only to see the shot bounce off the crossbar.
WCSU’s Calie Carter scored the game’s only goal in the 76th minute, pouncing on a missed clearance and firing a shot into the left side of the net. The poor clearance was possibly the only mistake on the day for a Cardinal defense that held the Colonials’ leading scorer Catherine Nathans (14 goals, 2 assists, 30 points) to just one shot on goal. Goalkeepers Suz Gerhardt ’09 and Gavi Elkind ’09 combined to make eight saves on the day.
The Cardinals’ starting lineup included Blank, Marissa Trevisan ’09, and Taylor Stevenson ’10 in the midfield, Elena Bertocci ’09 up top, Sarah Orkin ’09 and Beth Kenworthy ’10 in the back, and Gerhardt in goal. In total, three underclassmen combined for six of the Cardinals’ shots in the game.
The Cardinals returned to NESCAC action on Saturday, taking on Conn. College at home. The overtime victory demonstrated the strengths that have given the Cards a successful start to the season: stingy defense, solid goaltending, depth on offense, and an unwillingness to give in.
”We are winning the games we need to win to extend our season into the playoffs. Saturday’s game showed how much character this team has. We worked hard for each other and it paid off,“ mentioned Nicole Gray ’08.
Co-captain Danielle Crystal ’07 put Wes up early with an unassisted goal, her third of the season, just 1:01 into the game. Conn. College knotted the game 24 minutes later when Conn. College defender Claire Linden ’08 chipped home her first goal of the season.
Despite several opportunities to score in the second half, Conn College freshman goalkeeper Jenna Ross stymied the Cardinals’ attack, picking up four of her nine saves in the second 45 minutes.
Trevisan combined with Gray to end the game just eighteen seconds into the second overtime period. Gray took the ball deep into the right corner before sending a low cross that Trevisan collected ten yards from goal and coolly finished, delivering Conn College their fifth loss of the season.
The Cardinals’ attacking and midfield core of Crystal, co-captain Lauren Ogden ’07, Stevenson, Blank, and Trevisan continued their dangerous play on offense, combining for eleven of the Cards’ thirteen shots.
Gerhardt and Elkind split halves in goal for the second straight game, anchoring a Wesleyan defense that has given up just three goals in its past six games.
As with any hard-fought NESCAC victory, the overtime effort was more than satisfying.
”Our team goal is to make it into the NESCAC playoffs, and I’m sure every single person on our squad would fight tooth and nail to get us there. We just need to hold on to that drive for the rest of the season and good things will come of it,“ Blank said.
Before returning to NESCAC play next Saturday against a strong Colby squad, the Cardinals travel to Providence on Wednesday to take on 10-1 Rhode Island College. The 6 pm game promises to be exciting as it marks the first home night game in the history of the women’s soccer program at RIC and a rematch of an overtime victory for the Cardinals last season.
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