In the past week, women’s soccer played three away games, winning a pair and losing one, to bring their season record to 3-3-1. Their two wins were shutouts, as they defeated Delaware State University 3-0 last Friday and blew out St. Peter’s University 6-0 on Wednesday. Their only loss was against 15th nationally ranked Georgetown University on Sunday.
Junior midfielder Sophie Saldivar scored two goals against Delaware State, with the third goal scored by junior forward Krista Kissell. Saldivar won Patriot League Midfielder of the Week and Kissell won Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week following their performances. Junior defender/midfielder Camryn Monfort assisted on two of the goals, and Kissell added an assist.
“The team has performed really well so far, and we keep improving and developing with each game,” senior forward Alexa Buffa wrote in an email. “We have a very talented group this year that is capable of doing great things.”
Against nationally-ranked Georgetown, the Leopards could not keep up. The Hoyas took the lead in the 18th minute and did not let up, scoring a pair of goals after halftime before sophomore midfielder Riley Dowd helped the Leopards avoid being shutout with a goal. Georgetown scored again just over a minute later, en route to their 4-1 win.
“I think as we prepare for league play we will need to improve our ability to push ourselves. During league play wins / losses count as points,” senior defender Caitlin Balmer wrote. “We will need to be able to push ourselves further and test the limits of our technical, mental, and physical ability.”
The Leopards bounced back with a 6-0 win over Saint Peter’s on Wednesday. Similar to the game against Delaware State, goalies freshman Natalie Neumann and junior Maggie Pohl split time defending the shutout. Four different Leopards scored, including Kissell and sophomore forward Katie Butler, who scored two apiece.
“I think [Wednesday’s] win really solidifies the impact and potential that we can have during league play,” Balmer wrote. “We have a diverse number of players who have demonstrated that they have what it takes to score, and that is something we have lacked in the past. This win is a huge confidence builder to project us into conference play.”
“An area we knew we needed to work on was putting away our chances, which is something we did [in Wednesday’s game],” senior midfielder/forward Abbie Bresnahan wrote. “Although we scouted St. Peter’s, we focused more on our own playing model instead of theirs which is why we were so successful today.”
The Leopards return home for a Sunday match against Marist College at 2 p.m.
Andrew Hollander ’21 contributed reporting to this story.