By Molly Pennington
Elm Staff Writer
On Wednesday, Oct. 4, men’s soccer faced off at home with The College of New Jersey Lions and women’s soccer played against the Johns Hopkins University Blue Jays in Baltimore.
The Shoremen had a strong start with a shot on goal from forward Assou Kowo just 13 minutes into the game. This was the first of 15 shots from the Shoremen throughout the game.
Both teams proved to be pretty evenly matched without goals until just before halftime. Senior defender Chris Comber sent the ball up to senior defender Alex Coster for his first goal of the season.
Coming back from halftime with a 1-0 lead, the Shoremen were feeling confident. Freshman midfielder Tucker Sprano was quick to nail his first goal of the season as well, bringing the score to a 2-0 lead.
The second half was rough, with three Lions and two Shoremen earning yellow cards. Even with the game closing, the Lions refused to go down without a fight and fired a goal with just three minutes left on the clock.
TCNJ nearly tied the game with a corner kick in the final few moments of the game, but goalkeeper Cole White had an impressive save that would keep the final score at 2-1 and cement the Shoremen’s win.
The Shorewomen then played their game against Johns Hopkins.
In the first half, 11 shots were made on the Shorewomen, but their defense was just strong enough to not let a single one through. Sophomore goalkeeper Hailey Sharpe had three close saves resulting in a score of 0-0 for the half.
Despite the fight from the Shorewomen’s defense in the first half, they could not keep up with their opponents. Only two minutes into the second half, the Blue Jays scored their first goal.
The Shorewomen faced six corners from the Blue Jays, putting the team in a tough position.
Two more goals were scored against the Shorewomen consecutively with just around a minute between them. The Blue Jays had 25 total shots, leaving the game with a 0-3 loss for Washington College.
Both the Shoremen and the Shorewomen faced off against the Haverford College Fords at home on Saturday, Oct. 7.
With another strong start for the Shoremen, sophomore forward Shepherd Koffie squeezed a shot in the upper 90 just under seven minutes into the game. This brought the Shoremen’s score to an early 1-0.
Both teams gained a yellow card early on in the second half. The Shoremen’s freekick was shot by junior midfielder Dominic Miller and headed by senior defender Chris Comber, nearing a goal but it was narrowly saved by the Fords’ goalkeeper.
In the final minute of the game, the Fords had a freekick on goal that senior goalkeeper Anthony Pinto deflected, solidifying their 1-0 win. The Shoremen racked up 16 shots compared to the Fords’ four.
Regardless of the Shorewomen’s prior loss this week, they were set to win on their Alumni Appreciation Day. It took just one minute for senior forward Audrey Flanagan to secure their first shot against Haverford, bringing the score to 1-0. Sophomore goalkeeper Hailey Sharpe proved her strength with two saves in the first half.
Three minutes after halftime, sophomore midfielder Bridget Whiteside found the back of the net with ease, leading the Shorewomen to a 2-0 lead.
Sharpe had two more shots to save in goal before Flanagan fired her second goal on the Fords, ending the game in a score of 3-0.
This marked the first time in 19 years that the Shorewomen have even been able to score against Haverford. Washington College’s women’s soccer team has not beat Haverford since they began playing each other in 1998, only ever scoring a total of 2 points against the Fords until now.
The following week on Oct. 11, the Shoremen played King’s College, coming away with a 1-0 win. Next up was Gettysburg College, which was a smackdown resulting in a 3-0 win by WC. This was their largest margin of victory of the year and their eighth win in a row.
The Shorewomen played two games against McDaniel College and Gettysburg on the same days. The first of which ended up as 2-0 loss for WC and the second was a tie at 0-0.
Both teams face Muhlenburg College next on Oct. 21 on the road.
Junior forward Katim Njie advances the ball against the Shoremen’s opponent.
Photo courtesy of WC Athletics
Photo Caption: WC Field Hockey advances to 7-6 with wins over Fords and Bears