By Louis Galdos
Elm Staff Writer
This week, the men’s and women’s soccer teams had a stretch of non-conference games. First on Wednesday afternoon, the Roy Kirby Jr. field was jam- packed with two back-to-back matches. In the first match of the day, the Shoremen battled Goucher College and overwhelmed them with a final score of 6-1.
During this game, the scorers were spread out, as all six were scored by six different players, resulting in a win contributed to by all.
Next, the Shorewomen battled Hood College. The Shorewomen fell short as they lost 2-1 in a competitive and close match. The Shorewomen created lots of scoring opportunities, as they recorded 14 shots with four on goal.
Senior defender Evan Savoth had nothing but positivity to share about the Shoremen’s approach and progress.
“Leading into both of the games this week, we’ve been trying to build on tactics we discussed in preseason,” Savoth said. “So far, we are seeing positive results, but once we begin playing centennial conference teams on the 21st we’re going to have to adapt to stronger competition.”
Head coach Tom Reilly shared the women’s soccer team’s approach to Wednesday’s game versus Hood College.
“We knew Hood played 4-5-1 but didn’t expect them to sit so deep and counter. Falling behind to an early goal allowed them to sit deep for the rest of the match. We didn’t do a good job of possessing to draw them out and of course conceding a second goal just before halftime gave us a big hill to climb,” said Reilly. “We made some adjustments at the half and came out with renewed energy and focus, but unfortunately could only get one goal back. Hopefully we learned some lessons from the game that we can take forward.”
On Saturday, the Shorewomen went on the road to play Cabrini University. This was another closely fought game that ended in a tie of 1-1. This game was an exciting one, as they went into double overtime with neither team willing to give up the lead.
Next, the Shoremen played against Randolph- Macon College at home. In the end, Randolph would hold off the Shoremen with a close score of 3-2.
“It was a very hard-fought match for both teams. Going into our game against Cabrini on Saturday, we are definitely going to take what we learned from our game against Hood. We are hoping to come out confident, fast, and connected, and bring home a win,” said senior Cayla Marcinko.
Reilly also commented on the team’s approach versus Cabrini.
“Cabrini’s line up in 4-2-3-1 formation so we should do a better job of finding the attacking spaces early and limiting their ability to get on the ball in midfield. Unlike Hood, Cabrini won’t sit deep and defend, but will most likely press out of this same formation and try to win the ball back higher up the field. They are athletic and physical and will try to make our jobs difficult. We need to play at a quick pace to find spaces in their formation to exploit. They work hard in the offensive end but are fairly direct in their approach,” Coach Reilly said.
Junior goalie Annalie Buscarino shared her approach to both games.
“As a team, we trusted ourselves to perform Wednesday based on our escalating sense of confidence throughout the season. However, we weren’t quite prepared for Hood to come out against us as defensively as they did, and our plans to infiltrate their back line crumbled as a result. We want to come out as a more disciplined and dynamic team, working the ball through the middle and controlling the pace of play. We plan on coming out aggressively and diligently. Despite the applauded efforts of our second half tonight, we walked off the field carrying frustration and disappointment,” Annalie Buscarino said.