The women’s soccer team will look to resume its winning ways this afternoon when it faces Lafayette (4-2) at Berman Field for a 4 p.m. contest. The Red (3-1, 1-1) is coming off a 2-1 loss to Ivy rival Penn (4-2, 1-0) in the home opener last Saturday.
The booters faced a determined Penn squad in a competitive game this weekend. The Quakers struck first when sophomore Katy Cross beat two defenders and found the back of the net in the 19th minute. Junior Emily Knight notched the tying goal for the Red in the 46th minute after heading a feed from Whitney Cale past Penn keeper Vanessa Scotto. After a fierce 30 minutes of play, Cross beat sophomore goalie Katie Thomas for the game winner in the 76th minute.
Thomas was banged up in the game against Penn, and did not practice on Monday. Head coach Berhane Andeberhan is very optimistic about Thomas returning to play in today’s game.
“I’m very pleased with Thomas’s performance. She was spectacular in the Penn game, making some crucial saves,” remarked Andeberhan. “She has kept us in games this season.”
The Red’s defense has been solid in the first four games, allowing only three goals. Thomas has already recorded 2 shutouts in goal, and comes into today’s game with an impressive 0.75 goals against average along with 22 saves.
So far this year, the Red freshmen have been outstanding. First year forward Shannon Fraser recorded the game-winner against Colgate last week, while classmate Phela Townsend netted the game-winner against Columbia.
“I’m not surprised [with the performance of the freshmen],” commented Andeberhan. “We’ve seen these kids play before. A couple of them can play even better once they make the transition to college life.”
The Red will face a Lafayette squad coming off a 5-1 blowout of St. Peter’s College, in which senior Emily Myers recorded her third career hat trick. Myers was named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week on Monday for netting 5 goals in two games. She is an explosive offensive player who has led Lafayette in scoring for the past three seasons, and is currently ranked second in career goals, assists, and scoring at the school.
Last year, the Leopards won a program-record 12 games and will look to make a run for the Patriot League title this season. The booters bested the Leopards last year 3-0 in the Red’s first game of the season in Easton, PA.
The Red continues its homestand on Saturday with a 4 p.m. showdown with Ancient Eight foe Yale at Berman Field.
Archived article by Jonathan Auerbach