This weekend, the Washington University women’s soccer team continued their undefeated season with wins over Rhodes College and University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. The Bears began their weekend of play against the Rhodes University Lynx, a team coming into the match with a 2-1-1 record, hoping to upset the undefeated Bears. However, the Red and Green imposed themselves on the match early, opening the scoring in the 12th minute.

Senior midfielder Darcy Cunningham and junior forward Taylor Cohen combined wonderfully on a give and go and Cunningham slotted the ball away to put the Bears up 1-0. The Bears doubled their lead in the 24th minute when senior defender Hannah Menard scored a screamer from 40 yards out, her second long range strike of the season.

Grace Bruton | Student Life

Senior Hannah Menard scores a goal from 40 yards out against Rhodes College. The Bears went on to win 4-1.

The Bears were determined to take their 2-0 score into halftime. However, Rhode’s Sydnie Schindler cut Wash. U.’s lead in half with a beautiful strike from 30 yards out. This goal not only brought the Lynx to back within reach of the Bears heading into the second half, but it was also the first goal conceded by the Red and Green all season.

Throughout the second half, the Bears pushed to restore their two-goal advantage. Menard came very close to finding her second goal of the match in the 68th minute, firing a shot that careened back off the post, much to the relief of Rhodes goalkeeper Meghan Kiker. Minutes later, the Bears found their third goal. Senior midfielder Maggie Crist put a nice ball into the box, where Cunningham was on hand to finish, making the score 3-1. The Red and Green put the final nail in the coffin in the 77th minute, as sophomore forward Ellie DeConinck tucked the ball away, thanks to a great cross from Menard. Once again, Wash. U. dominated for most of the match, outshooting Rhodes 22-4 overall.

The Red and Green were in action again Sunday, where they took on the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Whitewater, fresh off of a 1-0 victory against Depauw, came in as yet another team eager to end Wash. U.’s undefeated season. The Bears, however, had different ideas, as they provided another ruthless offensive performance, outshooting Whitewater by a resounding 39 shots to 1 for the match.

The Bears came out of the gate strong, as they looked to put Whitewater under heavy pressure early on. Cunningham almost opened the scoring in the third minute, but her shot came back off the post. Wash. U. scored their first goal in the 22nd minute. Cunningham, continuing her impressive weekend of scoring, fired a shot into the corner off of a flicked on header from freshman midfielder Jess Shapiro.

The Bears continued to put pressure on Whitewater, forcing multiple saves from goalie Nina Yonan. Minutes later, freshman Erin Flynn came agonizingly close to doubling the Bears’ lead, as her shot became the Bears’ second of the afternoon to hit off of the post and stay out.

The Bears had a lot of chances in the first half; however, they could not quite find the crucial second goal, leaving a danger for Whitewater to level the scoring with one good opportunity. Once the second half began, however, the Bears wasted no time putting another goal away. In the 48th minute, Cohen took a shot that fired off of the post. However, just when it seemed like Whitewater was going to escape, Crist followed the shot in and tapped in the rebound.

For the rest of the game, the Bears continued to ruthlessly attack the Whitewater defense, forcing mad scrambles to block shots and clear the ball from the away team’s back line. The game would eventually end 2-0, allowing the Bears to extend their record to 7-0 for the fourth time in school history. Sophomore goalkeeper Emma Greenfield and the Wash. U. also picked up their sixth clean sheet of the season, ranking among the top ten teams in the country for goals against average.

The Bears will put their undefeated season on the line again on Thursday, Sept. 20 at 8 p.m., as they match up against their Wydown rival, Fontbonne.