By Josh Niswander
Senior Writer
Last week the Shorewomen ended a 38 game losing streak on the road in conference play by defeating Bryn Mawr 6-1. Later in the week, the Shorewomen fell on the road to the top team in the conference, McDaniel, by a score of 5-1. The win at Bryn Mawr marked the team’s best record in program history through nine games at 6-3. The win was also Head Coach Tom Reilly’s first Centennial Conference victory.
“One of our goals for the season was to get off on the right foot in the Centennial Conference table and start climbing the ladder. Obviously it is only one win, but it is the first one in a while, so it is another marker for progress,” he said.
The six goals scored at Bryn Mawr were the most by a Shorewomen soccer team since 1999.
“We have some very good attacking talent and a great team work ethic, so the plan was to get as many players involved in the attack and come at them from multiple angles. The girls did a great job of sharing the ball. If we had our shooting boots on we would have scored more, but as a coach I really cannot complain after getting six,” Reilly said.
Washington Collge scored two goals only eight minutes into the contest. Junior Olivia Sabatino scored her fifth goal of the season from 15 yards out courtesy of a pass from fellow junior Lindsay Russell who tallied an assist on the play to give WC the early 1-0 lead.
Senior Maribeth Harrington extended the early lead to 2-0 when she scored her first goal of the season from 30 yards out off a pass from freshman Emily Caldarelli.
“I have never been more proud of this team and what we have accomplished in such a short amount of time,” Harrington said.
Two more goals were scored before the halftime break, one by each team. Junior Arianna Sabatino notched her second goal of the season off of a rebound from just six yards out to extend WC’s lead to 3-0.
Bryn Mawr was able to score on their only shot of the game with just two minutes left prior to halftime.
Even after the halftime break, the scoring continued for the Shorewomen.
Junior Lauren Neary started the second half scoring for the Shorewomen, notching her third goal of the season to push WC’s lead back to three goals at 4-1.
“I scored while the ball was being bounced around in the box. Caldarelli had a shot and then the keeper deflected it, so Harrington then got a shot off which came short of the goal and I was able to volley it in,” Neary said.
Russell was able to score her fourth goal of the season to give WC their largest advantage of the day at four goals, by a score of 5-1.
Freshman Sara Douglas then scored her first collegiate goal on a penalty kick to finish off the scoring for the Shorewomen on the day for a final score of 6-1.
On Saturday, the Shorewomen lost at McDaniel by a score of 5-1. McDaniel improved to 4-0 in CC play with the win.
The Shorewomen trailed by a score of 2-0 at the half. Arianna Sabatino scored the lone goal for WC in the second half, but it was not enough to prevail as McDaniel tacked on three more goals in the second half.
The Shorewomen currently sit at 1-3 in conference play at roughly the halfway point of conference season.
“We are excited to keep working hard and see what else we can accomplish this year in conference play,” Russell said.