By Taylor Konyk
Elm Staff Writer
Late Wednesday night, the Washington College Shorewomen played a game of soccer with their backs against the wall, but managed to rally back after falling behind 2-0 early in the match to win 4-2. Before the match even opened, the Shorewomen found themselves at a severe disadvantage playing the game with 13 players—in other words, they played the entirety of the match with only two subs. It was quite the feat considering their opponent, the King’s College Lady Monarchs, played with 12 subs.
Early on, the teamknew they had a good opportunity to steal a game from KC, but realized it would require everyone to play bigger.
“We had people beat up and hurt. I’ve got two in boots, one with a concussion… and two other girls that are severely injured,” said Coach Kanute Drugan said of his team’s condition heading into the 7 p.m. match.
Despite WC’s us-against-the-world attitude, nerves managed to get the best of the girls early on as they were scored on at 14:40 and again at 16:57. However, it should be noted KC’s first goal required a bit of luck and good fortune.
Unfazed, Coach Drugan identified his team’s mistakes and with a calm cool and collected attitude he said to his players, “Don’t worry we’re still in this.”
“We made several mistakes [and] a lot of that started with communication,” Drugan said of his team’s play early on.
Goaltender Rebecca Potochney would echo Drugan’s message, chalking up the first two goals as “miscommunication.”
“Once we started talking more, and everyone started communicating everything worked out,” Potochney reiterated.
In essence, the Lady Monarchs early success can be attributed to WC poor play.
Of course, the game would change drastically after the Shorewomen notched their first tally. Scoring on a penalty kick, Heather Smith ripped a shot passed the Lady Monarch’s goalie—who made the fatal mistake of anticipating the shot, causing her to jump out of position.
However, Smith’s clutch goal scoring wouldn’t be put on full display until she tied the match in the 40th minute. After taking a low percentage shot from 35 yards out, Smith bulged the twine for second time in one half.
What’s impressive about Smith’s first half is she breathed life into her team. Despite the chips being stacked against Washington College, Heather put on a stellar first half performance to not only take away the Lady Monarch’s two goal lead, but also the momentum.
Unlike the first half’s slow start, the second half picked up quickly with Katie Bradley scoring the game winning goal in the 55th minute of the match. As the game shifted in favor of WC, composure broke down on the part of the Lady Monarchs. Potochney was forced to fend off incoming attackers after every save. The Lady Monarchs took liberties whenever possible as they were clearly trying to rattle WC goaltender.
The game would be sealed shut when Suzanne Patinella scored a goal off a rebound in the 79th minute. It would put the Shorewomen ahead by a comfortable margin, and mentally break the Lady Monarchs.
It was a gutsy win for the team. The come from behind win against KC speaks volumes to both Drugan’s coaching style and the Shorewomen’s determination to win.
The adversity the team faced Wednesday night will surely pay dividends later in the season when their backs are once again against the wall.