UMW women’s soccer draws with Virginia Wesleyan 1-1

by THOMAS JACKSON

Sports Editor

On Aug. 14, the UMW women’s soccer team faced Virginia Wesleyan University in a deadlock match leading to a 1-1 tie to move the Lady Eagles record to 2-1-2. To prepare for a physical game like this, Head Coach Scott Gerseny believes being ready mentally is how you compete. 

“Before games like this when we know the other team is going to bring a high level of physicality, we talk about it a lot, we rep some things in practice that are going to mimic it,” he said. “We’re always trying to make sure everybody stays healthy through practice, and then it becomes about the players finding that grit and matching the other team’s intensity.”

The first half of the game would start slow with the lone goal of the half coming from Virginia Wesleyan freshman Alexis Manfredi 24 minutes in. Going into the second half trailing, the Lady Eagles were able to come out of the break with new strategies and plays, leading to faster-paced play. 

Sophomore marketing major Emily Box believes that by exerting more physicality, the team was able to come out of the half more eager for a goal. 

“Physicality played a huge role in yesterday’s game, we really amped up the physical aspect of play in the second half because we were just so eager to get a goal,” she said.

Following a halftime reset, UMW would be awarded a free kick 83 minutes into the game off of a Virginia Wesleyan foul. The kick was taken by Maci Landel, a sophomore biomedical sciences major, and bounced off the crossbar. A scrum of Mary Washington and Virginia Wesleyan players started to all go for the ball until Box was able to head the ball into the goal. 

“All that was going through my mind when Maci was going up to take the free kick was that I need to be crashing that goal in case it hits the crossbar or the goalkeeper loses control of the ball,” said Box. “Once the ball hit the crossbar I was in perfect position to head the rebound into the goal.”

Gerseny accredited the late goal to the switch made at halftime.

“I think at halftime we were able to set the reset button and rethink about the game plan, and we did a better job of following the game plan and putting the other team under some pressure,” he said. “When you put teams under pressure, they may foul in the wrong spot of the field, give up a free kick opportunity, and then Maci Landel did a great job taking advantage of that.” 

Following the late goal, UMW would end the game tied after defending a late corner from Virginia Wesleyan. 

Corners were an area of trouble for the Eagles, trailing behind 6-3 in number taken, but only one goal was allowed off of a corner attempt. Junior sociology major and goalkeeper Adriana Thompson was very proud of how her team defended and stated that the work had begun in practice. 

“I like how the corners were defended. As a team, we practice corners almost every week, and the goalkeeper unit always makes sure to work on high balls to mimic corners,” she said.

Thompson would end that day with two saves on three shots, but that is not to say she wasn’t involved. Many of Virginia Wesleyan’s chances were shut down before they had a chance to reach the net, and Thompson said that was all due to her teammate’s solid defense. 

“Having a solid line of defense during the game was critical. I have complete trust in the team and the defenders,” she said. “The defense held their ground exceptionally well and was able to perform.”

Even though UMW might not have gotten the outright win, Box still saw positives from the team’s gameplay, and hopes to carry the mindset, and the support from the bench, into the next game.

“[T]he positives that I saw throughout my teammates and I would have to be that we gave it our all to try and put a goal behind the net,” said Box. “We never gave up, which is the mindset that I want us to have for our next match. I also want to give credit to our bench for being nothing but supportive and always cheering for the players on the field.”

The Eagle’s next match is against Methodist University on Sept. 21.