Sports

Women's soccer takes down McDaniel in sudden-death overtime

In print | October 9, 2008

It was only a matter of time before the Swarthmore women’s soccer team could seal a victory Saturday night against conference rival McDaniel. Megan Colombo ’11 put mounting frustrations to rest with 6:01 left on the clock in the second sudden-death overtime period, connecting off a pass from Maggie DeLorme ’10, who was credited with the assist. Swarthmore improved to 7-2 with the win, and now stands at 3-1 in Centennial Conference play.

Boasting a 26-4 shot advantage throughout regulation play, it seemed a Garnet goal was coming more and more within reach with each passing minute. Colombo’s game-winner came as no surprise after a series of chances that seemed to pop up one after another. “It was frustrating because we had a lot of opportunities,” Colombo said. She went on to note that the team was especially motivated after a double-overtime loss at home to Eastern. Sure enough, the Garnet wasn’t about to let it happen again, turning the tables this time by dealing a similar fate to McDaniel. The Green Terror dropped to 4-6 (1-2 CC) with the loss.

The goal was Colombo’s fifth of the season, a team-high along with Elizabeth Mills ’11. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Lauren Walker ’09, bolstered by a sturdy Swarthmore defense who kept McDaniel’s conference-leading scorer, junior Brittany Baer, at bay, posted her third shutout of the season. “[Defender] Cait [Mullarkey ‘09] and I have been playing together for four years, and Laura [Bolger ‘11] is really strong, so I’m totally comfortable,” Walker said of her defense.

The Garnet women plan to make easy work of conference foe Bryn Mawr (4-6-1, 0-4 CC) this Thursday in a home game scheduled for 7 p.m. But while the Owls are not considered to be among the Garnet’s list of toughest opponents, Walker said that she recognizes the importance of taking each game seriously — including the upcoming contest against Bryn Mawr. According to Walker, it is “easy to get complacent.” She and her teammates need to “keep our heads on straight,” even against less intimidating opponents.

Over the fall break, the team will travel to the west coast to face off against #18 University of Redlands (7-2-1) in Redlands, CA, on Tuesday, before hosting Muhlenberg (5-3) on Wednesday in a conference matchup. Even though the outcome of Monday’s game may not be relevant to Centennial Conference fans, Swarthmore looks to use the opportunity to continue to make its mark on the national level.

Colombo said that she is looking forward to the Redlands matchup: “[There is] not less pressure [playing an out-of-conference team]. We try to approach every game with the same intensity. We want to play well and make a statement … [in order to] work towards our goal of getting into the national championship.”

Taylor Rhodes ’10, a Redlands native, said that she looks forward to the rare opportunity to play at home in front of her friends and family. Aside from having the team stay at her house during the trip, she is eager to “play in front of a lot of girls [from home] and their families. Hopefully we’ll come out with a win.”

Swarthmore is currently ranked fifth in the Mid-Atlantic Region by the NCAA, and looks to break into the national rankings with a win over Redlands next week. With knocking off the College of New Jersey, the #1-ranked team in the nation to their credit this season, it seems the Garnet are only a few goals away from reaching untapped potential.

Disclosure notice: Sports Editor, Melinda Petre and Assistant Sports Editor, Alyssa Bowie are members of the women’s soccer team but had nothing to do with the creation or production of this article.