Women’s soccer: Ballin’ end to regular season

NATHALIE LUCIANO

Staff Writer

The UMW women’s soccer team won 4-0 against Bryn Mawr College on Saturday, Oct. 29, an exciting finish to not only their home games, but also their regular season.

“The shutout we got is a good reflection of how well the defense played,” said starting goalie Allison Holden, a senior psychology major. “They did a great job at not allowing many chances for Bryn Mawr. We also did well in the attack, scoring 4 goals is impressive against any team and our offense helped put the game away early.”

UMW had the ball for the first play, though it didn’t give them too much of an advantage at the start as Bryn Mawr’s defense fought back strongly against UMW’s offense. However, at the 19-minute mark, UMW freshman Madison Bauserman single-handedly scored the first goal off a free kick after a foul on by Bryn Mawr. 

UMW’s defense and offense worked well with one another to open up another opportunity to score. This time junior Savannah Alexander got the goal despite Bryn Mawr’s tight defense a little over five minutes after the first point. As a result, UMW successfully put pressure on Bryn Mawr early on in the game. 

UMW immediately scored two minutes into the second half of the game, furthering their momentum before scoring again five minutes in. Bryn Mawr’s frustration began to show with an altercation between one of their players and a UMW team member, resulting in the referee giving them a yellow card. Bryn Mawr’s defense continued to kick up further to protect against any other goals made by UMW as their offense fought to earn a goal. However, UMW’s defense fought back just as strong up until the buzzer, and neither team had scored since the starting ten minutes of the game. 

“We did a great job,” said Head Coach Scott Gerseny. “Combing in the attack and putting pressure on them with shots and scoring chances. We were able to get a lot of players on the field to get some experience so overall a great day for us.”

After winning against Catholic University the Wednesday prior, the women’s team had built a lot of momentum coming into the match against Bryn Mawr and went into the game “feeling good,” according to Gerseny.

“A solid win on Wednesday against Catholic gave us a chance to score goals, get a shut out and build more confidence,” he said. 

Allison Holden’s father, Steve Holden, was a spectator at the game.

“It was a great last home game,” said Holden. “They played really well [and] it sets them up well for their tournament so we’re excited to go down and see how they do during the tournament down in CNU.” 

The team has had a great season, winning 10 out of their 18 regular season games. Out of eight away games this season, UMW won three of them. The win against Bryn Mawr marked a two-game winning streak after their loss against the Christopher Newport University team on Oct. 22. 

“The past few games have taught us a lot but also gave us a chance to show what the team can do,” said freshman goalie Adriana Thompson. “We persevered through them all and I think that it gave the team a chance to grow.” 

Last season, the Eagles were ranked No. 2 going into conference play. However, their season ended in the semifinals with a loss against the University of California Santa Cruz team at Salisbury, Md.

The team, currently ranked No. 3, will move on to face Finlandia University on Nov. 3 at Christopher Newport.

The Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference released an announcement on Nov. 2 naming freshman forward Kaitlyn Venzen as the Rookie of the Year, and five members of the UMW squad were recognized as honorees on the first and second teams: Amanda Krest, Kaitlyn Venzen, Eliza Franklin, Hope Grzebien and Mikaela O’Fallon.

“We need to keep our aggressive attitude in the final third,” said Gerseny, looking to future games. “We have scored 7 goals in our last 2 games and it would be great to carry that forward into the playoffs!”