Sports
Women’s soccer drops two hard fought NESCAC matches
By Robert Berk ’20
September 29, 2016
Tags sports
Women’s soccer fought hard this weekend in two physical games. On Saturday the Continentals faced off against #22-ranked Connecticut College. Hamilton fought hard but lost 3-0. Middlebury made the trip down from Vermont for the game on Sunday. They made the most of the trip as they came away with a 1-0 victory.
On Saturday the Connecticut College Camels got off to a fast start. Just five minutes into the game the Camels pushed the ball up field and got a shot off on goal. Hamilton goalkeeper Emily Dumont ’18 made the initial save, but the Camels’ Caroline Kelleher ’18 pounced on the ball. She finished this opportunity for her first goal of the day. Later in the first half, Kelleher scored her second goal of the day. Kelleher got the ball off a nice feed from Michelle Medina ’18, the NESCAC assists leader. Kelleher was 10 yards from goal and made one defender miss before firing the ball into the net.
While the Continentals were down 2-0 at the half, they certainly had their fair share of chances; they took seven shots, four of which were on goal, and had the only corner kick,which gave them optimism going into the second half. Shortly after the second half kicked off, Kelleher finished off her hat trick. A cross came into the box but was headed away by a Hamilton defender. Somehow Kelleher was able to win the ball back and placed it into the right corner of the goal.
The Continentals out-shot the Camels in the second half 7-2. Hamilton did have several promising opportunities and was unlucky not to walk away with a goal.
The team had to recover quickly as they were back on Love Field at 11 a.m. the next day. This game against the Middlebury Panthers was the last of Hamilton’s four consecutive at home. It was a back and forth affair. Middlebury had the first good scoring chance of the game. Midfielder Emma Shumway ’19 took a shot from just a couple of yards in front of the goal, but sailed high. Several minutes later, Hamilton’s Amanda Becker ’17 took a long-range shot towards the top of the net. Middlebury’s goalie, Kate Rinemuth ’18, tipped the ball over the goal and out for a corner kick. Not long after that, forward Katie Kreider ’18 took a shot across the goal. It got past Rinemuth and was bouncing towards the goal line when one of the Panthers defenders sprinted back and kicked the ball away from the goal to keep the the score tied at 0-0.
The first half was very even in terms of possesion, and both teams had one corner kick in the half. However, the Panthers took seven shots in the first half compared to just two for the Continentals. The game continued with a rapid back and forth pace in the second half. The Panthers were able to pin the Continentals in their end a few times, earning five corner kicks in the second half. One of these corner kicks was with 10 minutes left in the game. The ball swept in from the far corner and was headed down to the ground where there was a big battle for possession. Middlebury’s midfielder Katherine Kobbs ’18 came up with the ball out of the scuffle and knocked it into the goal.
The Continentals refused to quit. They controlled the ball off the kick off. Two minutes after conceding, Hamilton earned their only corner kick of the half. The ball was crossed into the far post and then was headed towards the top of the box. Midfielder Katie Tenefrancia ’19 ripped a powerful shot that was painfully deflected by one of the Panthers defenders. As the time on the clock wound down, the pressure put on by the Hamilton attack built up. The Continentals sent forward several long balls, but Middlebury’s defense remained tough and poised. The Panthers were able to play most of the balls back to their keeper and gain possession. They also deflected a couple other shots prevent the Continental attackers from obtaining clean shots on net. Unfortunately, the late push fell short and the final whistle blew with Hamilton down 1-0.
The Continentals have until next weekend to regroup and re-energize themselves. Hamilton is currently in eighth place in the NESCAC and faces two crucial road games, at ninth-place Wesleyan and at fourth-place Tufts, this upcoming weekend. The following weekend the ladies head to play Amherst and finally return home to play Sage College on Oct. 11.