On Sept. 26, the Mount St. Mary’s women’s soccer team defeated Sacred Heart University in a 3-1 victory. This result gave the team their win of the season following a shut-out loss against CCSU in their previous match. The victory over Sacred Heart was an important one, for it was only the second match Mount played in the Northeast Conference.
The Mountaineers took the lead within the first four minutes of the match with Forward Hannah Cooksey scoring with
an assist from Midfielder Kalli Bell. The final two goals were scored by Forward Isabella Wendler and Defender Maggie Wishart, giving Mount a two-goal difference at the end of the match.
Mount Head Coach, Tori Krause, said that what gave the team their edge was that they “prepared really well and executed really well.” Coach Krause added that the team’s execution was “something that we haven’t done in the past” and that it has taken them some time to score in previous games.
Mountaineer Goalkeeper, Arden Lembryk, was able to save six of the seven shots on goal whereas the opposing team was only able to save one. With the four shots Mount had on goal, three of them met the back of the net.
Mount was able to set the tone early with an early goal in the third minute. The first goal by the Pioneers was not scored until the 35th minute, which was scored by Forward Madison Palma. Krause believed that the team did so well because they were “coming into the game really, really confident and ready to go.” This confidence stemmed from a good first half of a match played against FDU, which had to end up being postponed.
In future games, Coach Krause hopes the team continues “winning for sure” and coming into the game strong rather than waiting to get into the game, “making other teams adjust to us.” She wants them to right off the bat play the way they want rather than having to adjust due to a lead by the opposing team. A future goal for the team is to strive for a shut-out, so rather than solely executing offensively, they can defensively too.
Krause does not believe much has changed in the team between their loss against CCSU and their win against Sacred Heart because Central is a good team. The head coach voiced that, “it was always going to be a tough game, and mentally is a hard game to be ready for.”
The entire coaching staff is optimistic about what the future holds for this team. The Mountaineers are hoping that they can now begin to build up a win streak. Only time will tell with what will become of this Mount team.