This past Sunday, Lafayette women’s soccer (2-7-2 overall, 0-2-1 conference) traveled to our nation’s capital to battle American University. The Leopards were coming off a heartbreaking loss to Patriot League rival Lehigh and were looking to break their three-game losing streak. While they did manage to break this streak, they were unable to come out on top, as the game ended in a 2-2 draw.
“After a tough loss to Lehigh on Wednesday we needed to quickly regroup as a team and start focusing on the American game coming up that weekend,” senior forward Sara Oswald wrote in an email. “We had a really strong week of practice, it was positive and focused, and we traveled very well to D.C. I think psychologically and physically we were prepared to get a good result from Sunday’s game.”
The scoring began in the 28th minute, as Lafayette freshman midfielder April McDonald maneuvered past American defenders and planted a shot in the left corner of the net to put the Leopards up 1-0.
The Eagles responded just two minutes shy of halftime by forcing a shot past Lafayette senior goalkeeper Natalie Neumann, bringing the score to 1-1.
In the second half, Lafayette found themselves out in front once again after a pass from McDonald resulted in a goal from Oswald in the 76th minute, giving the Maroon and White a 2-1 advantage. The goal was also Oswald’s team-leading fourth of the year.
“I think the most memorable moments of the game were the team’s ability to respond to conceding goals,” Oswald wrote. “It is never easy to regroup after being scored on, but our ability to continue to play our game from a defensive and offensive standpoint was impressive.”
In the 83rd minute, the game was tied once again when American floated a shot past Lafayette junior goalkeeper Lindsay Dewar. This goal was a product of a corner kick from American that deflected off several players before finding the back of the net. In the remaining seven minutes of the match, neither team was able to break through as the game ended in a 2-2 tie.
Both Lafayette and American finished the match with six shots, with four on goal for each team. The Leopards were led by McDonald, who recorded three shots, one of them resulting in a goal. Oswald had two shots, one of them a goal. Sophomore midfielder and forward Alexa Jindal had one shot on goal.
Neumann and Dewar split time evenly in goal for the Leopards, with Dewar making two saves.
One aspect of the game that did not show up on the stat sheet was Lafayette’s defensive effort, which prevented the fourth loss in a row for the Leopards.
“Consistently throughout the season our defensive block has been so strong that we rarely concede goals on the run of play,” Oswald wrote. “The same went for Sunday, both goals that were scored against us were unlucky results of crosses into the box, and the rest of the game showed a disciplined backline that was almost impenetrable by American forwards.”
Despite this impressive defensive effort, there is still room for improvement for the Maroon and White as they look towards the remainder of the season.
“As for what we could have done better, I think our game management could have been better, seeing as we lost a one-up lead twice. Better game management comes from maturity among every member of the team,” Oswald wrote.
The Leopards will look to record their first Patriot League win of the season as they take on the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds tomorrow at 2 p.m.
