Dan DaranciangThe offensive woes of the women’s soccer team continued on Sun., Oct. 9, as the squad saw a hard-fought defensive battle against University Athletic Association (UAA) rival-undefeated, No. 24-ranked Carnegie Mellon University-slip through its fingers. The 1-0 loss was the Bears’ fourth one-goal loss of the season, rounding out their season record to 6-5-1, 0-2 UAA.
The lone goal of the game was scored off a penalty kick in the 39th minute when Carnegie Mellon’s Erica LeCount was tripped in the box to set up the penalty kick, which beat sophomore goalkeeper Nina Sass to the lower-right side of the goal.
The Bears had an opportunity to get on the board early in the game but could not convert. Five minutes into the game, junior Talia Bucci nailed a shot from 20 yards out, barely missing the back of the net as her shot bounced off the crossbar. Junior captain Meghan Marie Fowler-Finn recovered the rebound, but Carnegie Mellon goalie Christie Adams kept the score knotted at zero apiece with a save to Fowler-Finn’s shot.
The strong Tartan defense effectively shut down the struggling Wash. U. offense, limiting them to five shots that challenged Adams in net. Nevertheless, the Bears out-shot the Tartans 11-8, but they could not find the back of the net-a recurring theme throughout the Bears’ season.
The downfall for Wash. U. was not necessarily in its inability to get on the board, but through committing fouls, resulting in the Carnegie Mellon penalty shot. The Bears committed 13 fouls to the Tartans’ 10, and both teams were even in corner kicks at two apiece.
Central to the Bears’ woes this season has been the lackluster play from the team’s top players. Fowler-Finn, who started off the 2004 campaign with eight goals in the first several games, only has four goals this season. Bucci and sophomore Kim O’Keefe, both big goal producers, have contributed only two goals to the Bear offensive thus far in the season.
Although the squad has outscored its opponents by a tally of 16-8, its inability to score in tied games and win close games has been its downfall. Four of the team’s five losses have come in one-goal games. This might be attributed to the sloppy play of the Bears, who have committed 144 fouls this season to their opponents’ 99.
The Bears (6-5-1, 0-2 UAA) will hope to improve on these gaudy statistics when the team hosts UAA competitor Case Western Reserve University on Fri., Oct. 14. at 7:30 p.m. on Francis Field. Case Western Reserve is 4-5-3, 1-1 UAA this season.