BY JARED NOLAN

In print | Published October 2, 2008

Women’s soccer lost to John Hopkins 1-0 last Saturday in a soggy, rain-filled affair. Swarthmore’s overall record fell to 5-2 and the loss marked their first Centennial Conference defeat of the season. The Blue Jays, ranked 7th nationally, improved upon their already undefeated record to 6-0-2 (2-0 CC).

The only goal of the match came in the 76th minute when John Hopkins sophomore Rhiannon Desideri crossed the ball to freshman Paulina Goodman. Goodman split the Garnet defense and finished the pass, kicking the ball by Swarthmore keeper Lauren Walker ’09. Walker finished the day with six saves. The rain was undoubtedly a major factor in the outcome of the game. Head Coach Todd Anckaitis and midfielders Maggie DeLorme ’10 and Elizabeth Mills ’11 all thought that the Garnet should have come away with a victory. Anckaitis noted that “[Johns Hopkins] had to feel lucky getting out of there with a win.” DeLorme said that Swarthmore “dominated the game.”
According to Anckaitis, the Garnet “possessed about 80 percent of the play” while besting John Hopkins in the total shots category 17 to 11. “We played a great brand of soccer,” he said, “connecting on passes, working the ball through the midfield, lots of one touch, two touch.” Mills summed up her team’s play similarly. “We played really well in the middle of the field and controlled the center,” she said. So why, therefore, did Swarthmore leave Maryland with a loss recorded on their schedule?

Mills placed the blame on the inclement weather conditions. She strongly felt that “the game should have been cancelled.” “The rain definitely affected the play even though we controlled the ball,” she said. “The turf made our style of play completely ineffective.” She noted that the field had a dome shape, and this meant the center remained relatively puddle-free, which is why the Garnet were able to control the play in that area. On either side of the field, however, large puddles collected and the ball would stop when Swarthmore tried to feed attackers coming out of the corners. DeLorme agreed. “There weren’t a lot of opportunities on both sides because of the conditions,” she said.
Swarthmore was able to maintain possession but many of their attacks fizzled out due to the wet conditions. Johns Hopkins was not able to retain control of the ball, so they were forced to implement a different strategy. “Hopkins resorted to the long ball because they couldn’t seem to possess,” Anckaitis said.

The tough loss was expounded by the fact that the Blue Jays have become the rival of Garnet soccer. Last year’s matchup also ended in a 1-0 victory by Johns Hopkins. “There is a rivalry with Haverford because of the school rivalry but our true rival is with Hopkins,” Anckaitis said. DeLorme agreed. “It was a hard loss because Hopkins is one of our greatest competitors,” she said, “but we have to take it in stride.”

The Garnet has now finished a challenging first half of the season, in which they have had success against many teams that went to the NCAA tournament last year. “We’ve been tested early and often and I’m excited about how our team has responded,” Anckaitis said. The rest of the matches are mostly against Centennial Conference opponents, and Swarthmore should continue its success: “we’re poised to make a great run,” Ankaitis said. He noted that the team has performed well in the first half of the season and he is proud of them, but he added a caveat in the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: “Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.”  See if the women’s soccer team is up for the challenge when they kick off the second half of the regular season with a home match against Centennial Conference foe McDaniel on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m.

Disclosure note: Melinda Petre and Alyssa Bowie are members of the women’s soccer team, but had no role in the production of this article.

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