BY DANNY FRIEL

In print | Published November 20, 2008

The Garnet women’s soccer team ended the season on a high note last Sunday by winning the ECAC South Region Championship for the second year in a row. Swarthmore finishes the season with a record of 10-4-6.

As the sixth seed in the eight-team tournament, the women didn’t have an easy path to victory and were required to travel long distances to play their opponents. Despite these obstacles, the Swarthmore team showed resilience and determination to emerge from the tournament undefeated and defended their crown from 2007.

Forward Kelsey Cline ’11 called the tournament victory “a great way to finish off the season. It was nice to be able to give that to our seniors.”

The Garnet opened the tournament last Wednesday against third seed Delaware Valley College. Goalkeeper Lauren Walker ’09 tallied nine saves in 90 minutes of regulation play and two ten-minute overtime periods, as the score stood at 0-0. Even after the customary five-round penalty kick shootout, the teams remained tied at three apiece. Swarthmore emerged victorious, however, in a round of sudden-death penalty kicks to finish ahead, with a score of 4-3, and advanced to the semifinals to play second-seeded Westminster College.

For game two, last Saturday, the Garnet traveled to Frostburg, Maryland to take on the Titans. The women used a 1-0 lead at halftime to springboard to a 3-0 win against Westminster, who ended their season at 15-5-2. Swarthmore advanced to the finals of the tournament with the win, and would face host and top-seed Frostburg State University in the finals last Sunday.

In what seems to be a recurring theme for the Garnet, the score of the final match was tied at 0-0 after 110 minutes of play, including two overtime periods. For the second time in three games, Swarthmore became engaged in a penalty kick shootout, to determine the final result of the season for both teams. It seemed only appropriate that the tournament finals would be decided by penalty kicks; the Garnet had already advanced on penalty kicks in the first round of the tournament, and had won the tournament last year by beating Catholic University in penalty kicks as well.
Indeed, despite the erratic nature of the penalty kick process, Swarthmore proved that winning games on penalty kicks is no fluke. The Bobcats were unable to recover from missing their first shot, and were forced to wait for the Garnet to make an error to keep their hopes alive. This mistake never occurred, as Swarthmore came out on top of the host team by posting a perfect 5-for-5 result in the shootout.

While Eileen Earl ’10 is quick to remember that “a win is a win,” many of the women would prefer to win their games outright. Sarah Reece ’11 says that penalty kicks “are not my favorite thing. It’s definitely more suspenseful [than winning in regulation time].”

The Swarthmore defense, put under quite a test in the tournament with such grueling deadlocks, has been bolstered for the past four years by the strength of Walker and fellow captain Cait Mullarkey ’09. Walker, who was named the MVP of the ECAC tournament, and Mullarkey, recently named an Academic All-American by ESPN, are a one-two punch that will leave a large void upon their graduation this year.

Earl, a part of the Garnet defense, says that the senior duo is “irreplaceable, but we do have other strong sophomore and freshman defenders. We have a freshman goalkeeper [Marie Mutryn ‘12] who has gotten some experience this year.” Reece acknowledges that losing such key players is “an inevitability of college soccer. Losing Walker and Mullarkey is a big deal, but I think we have the talent to step it up.” Captain Alexa Benshimon ’09 also graduates from the Swarthmore defense this season, further opening the door for younger players to fill the void.

The women are setting their sights on receiving a bid to the NCAA tournament next season. Cline says the easiest way for them to do so is to “win the conference tournament. It ensures that you get a bid.” Cline also noted that there were “three teams in the tournament that we had either beaten or come close to beating,” even though Swarthmore was not awarded a bid. Indeed, Swarthmore scored victories over #1 College of New Jersey as well as Farmingdale State University in the regular season. Both teams won berths in the NCAA tournament.

Reece feels she and her teammates are “up to the challenge [of making the tournament next season]. Hopefully we will get a good recruiting class and stay healthy.” Swarthmore has been on the verge of making the tournament for the past few seasons. If the Garnet receives a bid next year, it will be the first time in recent history that the women’s soccer team has done so. “It’s all up to us,” Reece said of putting an end to the NCAA tournament drought.

Disclosure Note: Sports Editor Melinda Petre and Assistant Sports Editor Alyssa Bowie are members of the women’s soccer team, but played no role in the production or editing of this article.

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