Soccer Goes To Semis

NICK JACOBS

The University of Mary Washington women’s soccer team burst into the first round of the Capital Athletic Conference tournament, beating Hood College 3-0 on Sunday.
The Eagles carried over the momentum from their 9-3-3 regular season record, ending last Wednesday with a 3-0 win over Villa Julie College, to stun their opponents with long-lasting and aggressive offensive drives that have become the expected with the their offense.
UMW’s offense racked up 26 shots, while their defense kept Hood College at midfield, managing to prevent a single shot from being taken on junior goalie Laura McCarthy.
The Eagles came out strong and at 2:04 into the game when freshman Chrissy Reardon headed the ball into the net off a cross from sophomore Kate Parvin.
Head coach Kurt Glaeser was pleased with his team’s opening effort.
“I thought we came out pretty strong,” he said. “We talked about scoring a goal in the first five minutes to set the tone and put them back on their heels a bit, and I am glad we were able to do that.”
Mary Washington has had many similar offensive opportunities for the later half of their regular season, but on Sunday players were finding the net on fifty percent of their shots.  Hood’s freshman goalkeeper Rachelle Buhrman recorded 11 saves.
Parvin scored a goal of her own in the 27th minute of play off of a feed from junior Hannah Pearson, giving the Eagles a 2-0 halftime lead.
During the second half, the Eagles continued to pound the ball downfield, allowing sophomore Allison DiPippa to score her fifth goal of the season with another assist for Parvin.
Despite the score, Glaeser feels his team did not take advantage of the opportunities on offense.
“We scored early, but then we played like a young team the rest of the way,” he said. “We just sat on our lead and didn’t bury them like I thought we could.”
Mary Washington previously played Hood College on October 9, defeating them 3-0.
Parvin, who was named the CAC player of the week on Tuesday, sees improvement from their earlier bout.
“Last time we played Hood, we played on their field, which was a lot rougher and smaller than playing at the Battle Grounds,” she said. “Playing on a larger field allowed us to calm down on offense and set up quality plays, which our offense capitalized on.”
Immediately after the game was over, Glaeser was informed that they would be playing York College of Pa. for their semifinal match.
York beat Villa Julie College 2-0 on Sunday and holds the second highest seed, having dealt Mary Washington their only CAC loss of the season.
After Sunday’s game, Glaeser and his team were ready to take on work.
“[York is] the most athletic team in the conference,” Glaeser said. “They are very tough and they were tough against us last time, so we have to respond and raise our game.”
Parvin agreed.
“York dealt us an over time loss at home earlier in the season,” she said. “It is a matter of pride that we go up to their turf and put up a fight.”
McCarthy also felt that her team had improved and was ready to face the Spartans.
“We’re finally capitalizing on some scoring chances, which is great,” she said. “I think our defense has been doing very well too. We’re communicating better and working well in the back. If we can play the way we’ve been playing, I really believe we can beat them.”
Unfortunately, Mary Washington was unable to score yesterday as the Eagles fell to the Spartans, 3-0.
The loss ended UMW’s season, finishing with a 10-4-3 overall record.