Doug Hendry
Contributing Writer
The women’s soccer team snapped its four-game losing streak in Maryland this past weekend, as it blanked Towson 1-0 on Sept. 13 at the Tiger Soccer Complex. In its second game of the weekend against UMBC, the Retrievers scored a late goal to win 1-0 at Retriever Soccer Park on Sept. 15.
Back on the road for a pair of games in Maryland, the Bison faced off against the Towson Tigers. Both teams started slow, with the scoreboard still blank at the end of the first half. In the second half, two juniors helped put the Orange and Blue into the lead. Brigit Falcon ’15 put the winning goal into the back of the net with the assist from Evelyn Nicinski ’15 in the 71st minute. The shot was Falcon’s first goal of the season.
Towson stepped up the pressure through the final part of the game, but the clutch play of Jessie Ashworth ’16, including five total saves, preserved the third shutout of the season for the Bison.
“The victory over Towson was crucial to building confidence and putting the past couple games behind us,” defender Lauren Dandie ’16 said. “We have a young back line which has had to endure some unfortunate injuries and adjust to new personalities, so getting this shutout is something we take a lot of pride in.”
On Sept. 15, for the second game in a row, the score was tied 0-0 at halftime, with the time of possession heavily favoring UMBC. The Bison were outshot 5-1 in the first half.
It looked as if the game was going to go into overtime, but UMBC headed the ball into the net off a far corner for the lone goal with 5:06 remaining. This score proved to be the deciding factor in UMBC’s victory.
The Bison have scored eight goals through eight games this season, while racking up nearly 15 shots per game.
The women’s soccer team, now 3-5, will face Army at home tomorrow at 2 p.m. for the start of conference play. Dandie has confidence in her team going against Patriot League opponents.
“With league play right around the corner, I believe that we need to take one opponent at a time and focus in on that. Hopefully from here on out we are able to stay healthy and continue to work hard in practices and stay positive as a team. We are an extremely close unit, and if we work for each other on the field while doing our individual jobs, I have faith that the victories will come,” Dandie said.