This Saturday, at Jackson field, the Wesleyan women’s soccer team suffered its first NESCAC loss of the season to the Trinity College Bantams. Coming into the match, Wesleyan was undefeated in the NESCAC, having tied their three previous NESCAC opponents. Their first two ties came against Williams College and Tufts University who are currently ranked third and fourth in the NESCAC, respectively.
After coming off a great win against Mount Holyoke, the Cardinals had the confidence they needed to push for the win against Trinity College, currently second in the NESCAC. Right from the start, the women’s team charged onto the field, scoring within the first 21 seconds of the game. Scored off a penalty kick by Laura Kurash ’13, the goal was the first Trinity had allowed all season. One minute later, the Bantams answered back with an unassisted goal by Leigh Howard ’12. That would be all the scoring for the first half despite the constant pressure Wesleyan placed on Trinity’s defense.
Throughout the first 45 minutes, goalie Clare Colton ’12 was unyielding in-between the pipes for the Cardinals, as she fought off six shots by Trinity’s fast-paced offense. She was helped out by Cora Lautze ’11 who had a solid defensive game.
“I think we controlled the tempo of the game and had them on their heels a lot,” Lautze said.
With the score tied at 1-1 going into the second half, it was anyone’s game. The last 40 minutes of the match were filled with excitement, as the Cardinals and the Bantams fought each other for shots on goal. With 10 minutes remaining in the game, Trinity managed to slip past Cardinal defense and took a shot that hit Colton and rolled in for a second goal. Wesleyan tried to fight back by continuing to fire shots but was unsuccessful and the game ended in a 2-1 loss for the Cards.
The Cardinals will get back into action this Wednesday when they vie against out-of-conference foe Eastern Connecticut State College.
Frustrated by this first NESCAC defeat, the Cards are already looking forward to facing off against their next conference rival, Bowdoin, on Saturday, Oct. 9.
“It’s not going to be easy,” Kurash said. “We have three upcoming away games, but if we can play with Trinity—and I think we out-played them—then we can play with anyone in this league.”
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