The Syracuse women’s soccer team was defeated by Colgate, 0-1, after an aggressive match at SU Soccer Stadium on Thursday night.<
Starting the match were seven underclassmen for Syracuse and four talented seniors. The girls came out playing strong, but not strong enough next to Colgate according to Head Coach Phil Wheddon [7].
“This is the first day I feel like we didn’t really show up and compete the way we wanted to in the first half,” Coach Wheddon says. “We possessed the ball well, we moved the ball well but at times, we didn’t necessarily possess with a purpose.”<
In the 19th minute, Mara Cosentino put Colgate on the score board with a goal against senior goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan [8].
"I think that the defense did a good job putting pressure on their forwards all the time, but I think we just got cut a little bit there and she buried it there into the corner,” Brosnan says. “I did my best to get there, but it didn’t happen.”<
Fighting through the last few minutes of the first half to get on the scoreboard, Syracuse women kicked into gear. After a few clean tackles in the Syracuse penalty box and some aggressive plays from both teams, they headed off the field at halftime. Colgate in the lead with a score of 0-1.<
Kicking off the second half, Syracuse women came out strong and what seemed to be more prepared than the first.
Senior defender Alana O [9]’ [9]Neill [9] came out on fire. Continuing from the first half, O’Neill made multiple crosses towards the goal and passes in hopes to get a goal for her team.
While O’Neill and the rest of the team pushed hard and gained better control of the ball in the second half, the shots that were made never saw the back of the net.<
Late in the second half at the 89th minute, freshman forward Mackenzie Vlachos [10] received a yellow card. This card followed a number of more aggressive tackles as the girls pushed back to try to come out of the match with a tie.<
Senior Alex Lamontagne [11], played tough throughout the match but felt that if the team had played harder together, the outcome would have been in their favor.
“We haven’t played a lot of teams that were that physical,”Lamontagne says. “I think we just need to keep a cool head and not commit as many fouls, but go in with hard tackles, go in and win the ball.”<
Leading up to this Thursday night match, Syracuse had a record of 4-1-1, while Colgate only had 1-4-0. With stats like this, the outcome was not what Syracuse had imagined.
“Maybe we underestimated them because of their record coming into this game,” Coach Wheddon says. “It’s a mistake that won’t happen again.”<
Syracuse women will play again on Sept. 10 vs. Harvard at 1 p.m., at the SU Soccer Stadium.
