By Sport Editor Tom Griffin
The Struggles of the women’s soccer team continue following back-to-back disappointing losses to both Clark and Eastern Connecticut.
After having won their first match of the season against Salem State in a convincing 2-1, the team has lost four straight and has been struggling to find another team win to bounce back with.
Their first matchup of the week, against Clark, proved to be too much for the team’s stalwart goaltending to handle. Despite making 12 saves, Junior goalie Jaimee O’Brien could not hold out against the onslaught of shots on goal that Clark’s Cougars could mass-produce.
With the Cougars outshooting the Corsairs four to one, something had to give, and Clark University ran off into the night with a 1-0 upset that the UMassD offense could not rectify. Sophomore Jillian Prout’s two shots on goal showed promise but ultimately failed to reinstate a tie.
The women’s soccer winless woes unfortunately would not end with Eastern Connecticut, despite leading for most of the first half and maintaining a 1-1 tie through most of the second. The first Little East Conference matchup of this team’s young season, the Corsairs start off their conference championship campaign at an unfortunate 0-1.
The far more disciplined team, UMassD committed only three fouls to Eastern Connecticut’s twenty, but the Corsairs could not find opportunities to capitalize on the Warrior’s mistakes.
The struggles of this team to create scoring opportunities for themselves are put into an even greater focus when the Corsairs outshot the Warriors twelve to ten through two halves. Senior Ella Rath, responsible for seven of UMass Dartmouth’s twelve shots, as well as both of the Corsairs’ goals, could not drag this game back to a 3-3 tie on her own individual merits, despite several attempts to do just that. Jaimee O’Brien, once again, was up to par on her goaltending and tied the Warriors’ goalie in saves with five but let a desperation third goal slip through for the Warriors in the 71st minute of the second half.
The next week for Corsair women’s soccer has them travelling twice to Salve Regina and Plymouth state, with the latter being a Little East Conference-based matchup. Not only would a win in this situation boost team morale and break the now four-game losing streak, but it would also reset the Corsairs’ hopes for a fruitful postseason.