By Jack Poleto
Sports Editor
On Oct. 12, the Shorewomen played their thirteenth game of the season at home against Swarthmore College.
Early in the first period, junior goalkeeper Ava Rivera defended against two shots on goal, the first of which came within a minute of the game starting and the second from a penalty corner in the second minute of the game. The two teams ended the first tied at 0-0.
The second period began in an uneventful fashion, with neither team making progress toward scoring.
During minute 19, the Shorewomen fired off a series of three shots on goal from senior forward Julianna Sterling, sophomore forward Kat Esposito, and senior midfielder Anna Harrington, all of which were defended by Swarthmore’s goalkeeper.
The second period concluded with the Shorewomen and Swarthmore struggling to maintain possession of the ball, causing the score at the half to be tied, still at 0-0.
At the start of the third period, the Shorewomen came out strong, scoring within two minutes. Senior midfielder Kyra Heap pushed in from the right side, allowing for senior forward Jillian Brejnik to redirect the shot and earn her fourth goal of the season.
Following a penalty corner by Swarthmore in minute 35, Rivera made her third save of the game.
The Shorewomen struck for a second time in the minute 41 of the game with Esposito breaking away from Swarthmore defenders and shooting on the left corner of the goal from eight yards out. The third period concluded with the Shorewomen leading 2-0.
As the fourth period began, the Shorewomen started off hot with Sterling taking a shot on goal early. Following her own penalty corner, freshman forward Jam Hutt-Robles scored her third goal of the season with an assist from Harrington, bringing the score to 3-0.
In minute 53 of the game, Swarthmore stopped the shutout with a goal from five yards out, just squeezing it by Rivera in goal.
Swarthmore later pulled their goalkeeper from the game to put another player on the offensive. The move paid off as they scored in minute 57, bringing the score to 3-2 with the Shorewomen leading.
Following their score, the Shorewomen applied pressure for the remaining time by keeping the ball from Swarthmore. Sterling took a shot on goal with less than a minute remaining.
The final score of the game was 3-2, marking a victory against a conference rival. Esposito led the team with three shots on goal and one goal, Hutt-Robles with two shots on goal and one score, and Rivera with three saves.
Their next game was on Oct. 15, where the Shorewomen faced off against another Centennial Conference rival, the Gettysburg Bullets, in an away game.
The first shot on goal for the Shorewomen came from Esposito in minute 12 of the game, resulting in goal number 13 of the season. The next three minutes passed, and Washington College led at the end of the first period 1-0.
At the start of the second period, Sterling started the team off quickly with a shot on goal that was blocked by the Bullets.
During minute 28, Hutt-Robles took a penalty corner that Harrington redirected towards the goal and Gettysburg made the save. Harrington got the rebound and again it was saved, then Esposito got the third rebound and scored with it, bringing the score to 2-0 at the half.
The third period began with a shot taken by Gettysburg that the Shorewomen defended well. The team took the ball downfield and Sterling took another shot on goal with an assist from Esposito to extend the Shorewomen lead to three points.
The team kept the pressure on with two shots on goal coming from Sterling and Brejnik, both being saved by the Bullets’ keeper.
Gettysburg got on the board in minute 43 after converting on a penalty stroke from the left side of the goal, making the score at the end of the third period 3-1 with the Shorewomen holding the lead.
The fourth period began with an early Gettysburg goal with a redirect coming off a penalty corner, cutting the Shorewomen lead to 3-2.
The Shorewomen answered quickly with Brejnik scoring on a breakaway within 30 seconds of the Bullets’ goal, giving the Shorewomen the lead by two.
In minute 53, the team brought the ball back to Gettysburg’s goal with Brejnik taking two shots on goal and Hutt-Robles taking two penalty corners. Sterling capitalized on the barrage of pressure, recording her second goal of the game, making the score 5-2 favoring the Shorewomen.
With two minutes left in the game, freshman midfielder Kendall Thomson scored off an assist from Heap, which brought the game to its final score of 6-2, the largest margin by which the Shorewomen have ever beaten the Bullets.
The team out-shot Gettysburg 14-7 with 12 of those shots being on goal. They were led with the help of Rivera and her four saves and Esposito and Sterling each scoring two goals.
The Shorewomen have four games left in their season following these two and look to finish with a winning record.
Photo by Katie Tack
Photo Caption: Senior midfielder Julianna Sterling fighting for possession of the ball.