Women's Soccer
Women’s soccer finishes non-conference season with victories
Junior and captain Emma Brown fires a shot on goal past three Concordia College (Minn.) defenders in the first half of a game on Oct. 25. Her goal later in the second minute of the first sudden-death overtime won the game for the Bears, extending their undefeated streak to eight games.
The first half of play against the Cobbers was intense, with many prime opportunities to score for both teams. At the 7:07 mark, Concordia nearly scored after a shot soared over sophomore goalkeeper Clara Jaques, but sophomore Nicole Martin cleared the ball off the goal line.
“Our whole back line saved us so many times,” junior captain Emma Brown said.
The Bears also had their share of chances to score. Junior Lee Ann Felder had an open net after Concordia goalie Ali Nelson ran out of the box in an attempt to corral the ball, but Nelson sprinted back and punched the ball away from her goal.
With one second left in the first period, Wash. U. put a shot past Nelson. Sophomore Allie Betley took a shot that was blocked by the keeper, but freshman Lauren Steimle took control of the rebound and shot it into an open net. “Steimle is really coming into her own,” head coach Jim Conlon said. “She had the opportunity, worked really hard and finished it off.”
Both teams took 11 shots in the first period, but the Bears had a 9-6 advantage in terms of shots on goal.
In the second half, the Cobbers forwards were able to finish just one of their 10 shots. In the 51st minute, sophomore Sarah Rounds dribbled down the middle of the field and rocketed the ball into the top right corner.
“They probably ran the most dynamic offense we have seen,” Conlon said. “Concordia is a good, talented team with pace, both foot pace and ball pace.”
Concordia stepped up its defense in the second period, allowing Wash. U. its first shot of the second half at the 74:02 mark. The Bears almost scored off a short corner kick in the 83rd minute, but Martin’s shot was punched out. Although the Cobbers had a 10-7 advantage in shots in the second half, the period ended with a 1-1 tie, sending the game into overtime.
After a minute and forty-one seconds of extended play, the Bears finished the game. Sophomore Emily Gosché passed the ball to Brown in the corner, who crossed it to senior Julie Tembunkiart in the middle. Nelson blocked Tembunkiart’s shot, but Brown rushed in and tapped the rebound into the back of the net.
“The team worked really hard to get the ball into the corner, and Emma had a never-say-die attitude,” Conlon said. “She was going to make sure she found a way to get the ball into the net.”
Although the team picked up the victory, the Bears were disappointed with their failure to secure another shutout.
“We always aim for a shutout, and we are a little upset that we didn’t get that, especially on our home field, but we are obviously happy that we won,” Brown said.
Jaques, who was named last week’s UAA defender of the week, recorded 13 saves in the game for a career-high.
“Our defense did well and made their attackers take shots that were easy for me to save,” Jaques said.
On Saturday, the Bears dominated Fontbonne in their first home game in three weeks. Wash. U. outshot the Griffins 40-0 and scored seven goals.
“We had been on the road and hadn’t been traveling our whole team, so we hadn’t all been playing together for a while. It was great to finally all get on the field,” Felder said on Thursday.
Wash. U. resumes conference play this weekend and will host Brandeis University on Friday, Oct. 29 at 5 p.m. and New York University on Sunday, Oct. 31 at 11 a.m.