Adverse trends continued for the women’s soccer team on Wednesday, as the Cards dropped their sixth consecutive loss to Rhode Island College (RIC), 2-1. Despite creating plenty of scoring chances and out-shooting RIC 19-14, they were unable to take the advantage on the scoreboard. Wesleyan’s seventh one-goal loss of the season brings its overall record to a disappointing 1-7 (0-4 NESCAC), while RIC improves to 4-5-1 (1-2 Little East Conference).
The Cards dominated the pitch in the first 30 minutes of the game, playing a tight defense and shutting down the RIC attack. Wesleyan dictated the pace of the game with good ball movement and bombarded the Anchorwomen with eight early shots.
RIC fought back and scored in the 32nd minute with their first shot of the game. Wesleyan’s defense was caught out of position for a split second, giving RIC forward Ashley Jordan the opportunity to settle the ball. Jordan lofted a long, high shot from 20 yards out, beating Andrea Giuliano ’09 and giving the Anchorwomen a 1-0 lead.
“Our greatest weaknesses were disorganization and lack of communication,” said defender Marcia Whitehead ’08. “We played individual defense instead of defending as a team, and we failed to finish our opportunities.”
Jordan beat the Wesleyan defense again less then ten minutes later, securing a deflected cross and driving it home to put RIC two goals up. The Cards went into halftime trailing 2-0.
Midfielder Cora Lautze ’11 put Wesleyan on the board in the second half by slotting a header into the back of the net, splitting the RIC lead in half. Beth Kenworthy ’10 played the ball in on a free kick, picking up her second assist on the season. Wesleyan had chances to tie it up, but RIC goalkeeper Maddie Pirri closed the game out, finishing with nine saves.
“It was a tough loss, mostly because we beat ourselves,” said midfielder Becca Feiden ’08. “We made some mistakes, and they took advantage of them. We’re going to fix those mistakes.”
Despite the losing streak, Wesleyan has performed strongly in each of its games. All seven of the Cards’ losses this year have come by a one-goal margin, and their defense has not conceded more than two goals in any one game. Wesleyan has been a close contender in every game it has played this year, but unfortunately, its record does not reflect the team’s efforts.
“We have been focusing intensely on scoring, which ultimately led to breakdowns defensively,” said defender Laura Fine ’08. “It was a tough loss, but we will pick our heads up.”
The Cards will look to end the losing streak with a win on Saturday at home against Colby College at 11 a.m.
“As a team, we are hoping that this can mark a turning point for our season,” Whitehead said. “We plan to start fresh on Saturday against Colby. We have five league games left in the season, which means we still control our own destiny. I think one of the positive aspects of our season is that all our games have been very close. This means with some tweaking of our play we can start to come out on the other side of those games with W’s.”
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