The women’s soccer team (5-4, 3-2 NESCAC) delivered another shocker on Saturday, taking down Colby (6-1-3, 2-1-3 NESCAC) 1-0 in front of a large, homecoming crowd in Waterville, Maine. Co-captain Lauren Ogden ’07 scored the only goal of the game in the fifth minute and the Cardinals hung on the rest of the way for the victory.
The win was the program’s first ever over Colby and moved the Cards up to fourth in the conference standings.
Coming off a season that saw them win just one conference game, the Cards are raising eyebrows throughout the league with their relentless play in 2006. Saturday, the team blocked out distractions – a prolonged bus ride due to traffic, a hostile crowd – and went toe-to-toe with one of the region’s best teams.
Just 4:25 into the first half co-captain Daniel Crystal ’07 sent a cross towards midfielder Marissa Trevisan ’09. Trevisan bounced a shot off the crossbar, her second near-miss in as many games. Without stopping her run toward goal, Ogden then finished off the rebound to give the Cards the early 1-0 lead.
“Danielle made a great cross, and I hit the crossbar because I seem to prefer that to scoring goals for some reason. Luckily, Ogden was in the right spot to put away the rebound. Afterwards, I couldn’t stop thanking her for scoring,” Trevisan said.
The early goal, combined with a high pace of play from the Cards, clearly threw the Mules off their game.
“The team came out with intensity, which greatly frustrated the Colby players, even causing them to throw a couple of punches. We kept our composure and pulled out the win,” Ogden said.
Colby weathered the Cards’ strong start and soon settled down into their game. The Mules pressured the Wesleyan defense throughout the game, but starting goalkeeper Gavi Elkind ’09 and her back four held strong.
With the Cardinal defense forcing them to rush their opportunities, Colby managed to hit the net only eight times despite taking twenty-four shots. The Cards called on Sarah Orkin ’09 to handle Colby’s most dangerous attacker and she handled the job perfectly, holding her opponent to just two shots.
“Orkin had the arduous task of marking Colby’s best player, and she completely shut her down both physically and mentally,” said Trevisan.
After giving up just one goal in four consecutive second-half appearances, Elkind earned the start in goal Saturday. She continued to impress, making eight saves in the shut out. Her miniscule 0.37 goals against average and impressive .950 save percentage make her the top goalie in the conference in both statistical categories.
“Our performance against Colby will hopefully give us the confidence we need to play our best and take home a few wins as we go into the final few weeks of the season. We really want to make the playoffs this year, and I know we can do it if we play smart and we play as a team. It’s a really great group this year,” Elkind said.
With every win, the Cards move one step closer to their goal of securing a spot in the NESCAC playoffs. That accomplishment would be all the more satisfying for seniors like Ogden and Crystal, who have seen more lows than highs in their four years.
“It feels great to finally be playing good soccer and to be able to compete with any team in the NESCAC,” Ogden said.
The road to the playoffs will not be easy for the Cards in the coming weeks. Tuesday they travel to the Boston area for a conference game against Tufts, before returning to Maine on Saturday to take on another NESCAC rival, Bates.
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