The women’s soccer team (1-1-1 Patriot League, 4-4-1 overall) capped off a busy week with a 0-0 tie against Loyola University Maryland (0-1-2 Patriot League, 4-3-4 overall) last Saturday and a 3-0 loss against Princeton University (6-3 overall) on Tuesday.
The Leopards headed into the game against the Greyhounds coming off a big 2-0 victory against rival Lehigh University. However, with a game just around the corner, the team had to quickly start preparing for the next opponent.
“With the quick turnaround, we had to switch our focus to Loyola,” senior midfielder Gretchen Waechter wrote in an email. “Coming off a big win against Lehigh would bring us some energy going into Saturday, but we had to continue with our game plan in order to secure some points in the Patriot League.”
The Saturday game started rainy, creating wet and muddy conditions on the home pitch at Gummeson Grounds. The opening minutes saw tight team defense between the Leopards and Greyhounds. The first scoring opportunity came in the 13th minute when a Loyola shot was blocked by a defender and then grabbed by sophomore goalkeeper Catherine Apker.
A potential Maroon and White scoring opportunity emerged in the 34th minute when a pass set up senior midfielder Michaela Salvati perfectly for a shot that found the back of the net. The goal was overturned, however, as the Leopards were ruled offsides.
The half ended with both teams scoreless despite the 5-0 shot differential in favor of the Greyhounds, with the Leopards’ defense looking to hold a powerful Loyola offense in check.
“Our defense has been so strong this year, and we knew we had to get into Loyola’s good players early to prevent them from getting in stride,” junior forward Katrina Santelli wrote in an email. “Baylee DeSmit is one of the best players in the league, and our defense rose to the challenge and shut her down very effectively all game.”
DeSmit, a senior midfielder for Loyola, currently leads the Patriot League in shots, shots on goal and goals.
Senior forward Sofia Ruggiero commented that the team realized they would have to be more aggressive on offense in the second half.
“Without having to say anything, we all knew we wanted to go in and keep fighting and even do a better job attacking-wise,” Ruggiero said.
Coming out of the half, the Greyhounds quickly found the back of the net in the 51st minute, but again, an offsides ruling took points off the board.
The first good scoring opportunity for the Maroon and White occurred as Ruggiero ripped a shot in the 87th minute that just clipped the crossbar and bounced back.
The game came to a frenetic finish, as sophomore midfielder Nadia Zaffanella’s 90th-minute shot was saved, followed immediately by back-to-back shots by Santelli — one of which was saved by the Loyola goalkeeper and the other hitting the left post — as the buzzer sounded with the score still knotted at 0-0.
“I think we’re able to fight,” Ruggiero said. “I think it shows our grit.”
The Leopards had a quick turnaround with Princeton just three days after the Loyola game.
“We knew we were capable of matching the quality of a team like Princeton coming off our 1-1 tie against them last year, and we knew it would be an enjoyable night of soccer,” Santelli said.
Princeton opened up scoring in the 17th minute when they scored off of a corner kick.
The Leopards could not seem to get things going as they were held to one shot attempt in the first half compared to Princeton’s 12. The second half continued this way as the Leopards were outshot 13-4, finishing with an overall 13-2 shots-on-goal margin en route to a 3-0 loss.
The Maroon and White return to action Saturday at 1 p.m. against American University (0-2-1 Patriot League, 4-3-2 overall) in Washington D.C.