---

BY DANNY FRIEL

In print | Published November 12, 2009 — Updated November 17, 2009 18:58

It’s the worst way to lose in soccer.

In one of the game’s cruelest tricks, the Swarthmore women’s soccer team (13-4-1, 7-3-1 CC) found itself in a bind against Dickinson (15-4-1, 7-3-1 CC) in a play-in game for a berth in the Centennial Conference semifinals.

The score was tied at 1-1 after 90 minutes of regulation play and two 10-minute overtime periods.

Swarthmore got on the board first when Kelsey Cline ’11 blasted a ball from Hannah Purkey ’11 into the corner of the net at 28:12. The Garnet held the 1-0 lead for over thirty minutes.

It looked like it might be a repeat result of an earlier meeting between the two squads this season. In what was the first ever match between two ranked opponents in Centennial Conference history, the No. 15 Garnet beat the No. 25 Red Devils by a score of 1-0 at Clothier Field on Sept. 19.

But it was not to be. Dickinson junior Ashley Kunkle finally broke through in the 81st minute to tie the score.
Marie Mutryn ’12 tallied 12 saves for Swarthmore in the net, keeping the Garnet in the game despite being outshot 26-19.

The deadlock held firm, and two hours after the two squads took to the field eager for a decisive win, the game moved into penalty kicks to decide who would move on to face top-seed and regular season champion Muhlenberg in the semifinals of the conference tournament on Saturday.

And that’s what it came down to for Swarthmore in a season that saw an impressive 5-0 start and a national ranking of 16 on Oct. 13. Five shots from 12 yards out, and a lot of crossed fingers.

Both teams were perfect through the first four shots, with neither goaltender able to deflect any of the close range blasts. Dickinson’s sophomore First-Team All-Centennial selection Sarah Montminy made it five-for-five for the Red Devils, leaving fellow First-Teamer Julia Luongo ’10 to seal the deal for the Garnet.
Her shot was just like all the others.

But this time, Dickinson’s senior goalkeeper Kailyn Hartmann was in the right place at the right time, blocking the shot in an impressive effort and sending her team through to the semis.

It was a painfully familiar result for Swarthmore, who had been ousted by Dickinson in the semis in the 2008 conference tournament. Fittingly, it was Cline who vaulted Swarthmore to a 1-0 lead in the first period, but the Devils responded with two goals to send the Garnet home empty-handed.

And the year before that, Swarthmore left the playoffs at the hands of another penalty kick loss – a 5-3 decision to Ursinus.

This year, it was the same result, but it came in a much more unforgiving package. The Centennial Conference playoffs have not been kind to the Garnet.

The early exit also killed Swarthmore’s chances at finally receiving a bid to the NCAA tournament. Johns Hopkins defeated Dickinson 1-0 to win the conference championship and secure the Centennial’s only automatic bid.

Top-seed Muhlenberg was the only other Centennial Conference team to receive a bid – one of 21 at-large invites, no doubt by virtue of their mid-season wins over powerful Hopkins and Swarthmore, two teams that were nationally ranked.

Dickinson, too, was left off the list despite scoring two wins over the Mules this season (a 2-0 victory on Oct. 3 and a 4-2 decision in the conference semifinals after beating Swarthmore). Small consolation.

For good measure, though, Swarthmore landed six women on the All-Centennial Conference teams announced Monday, the most of any team in the conference, along with Muhlenberg. Luongo joined Megan Colombo ’11 on the First Team, who made her third appearance on the list after being named to the First Team and the Second Team in her first two seasons.

Newcomer Alexa Ross ’13 was one of only four first-years in the conference to get a nod.
Ross and Laura Bolger ’11 were named to the Second Team, a notch up for Bolger after an Honorable Mention last year. Mutryn and Maggie DeLorme ’10 were also recognized, receiving Honorable Mentions this year.

For now, the Garnet sets its sights on making the most of its berth in the ECAC South Region Championship tournament.

Swarthmore nabbed the third seed in the tournament and blanked sixth seed Centenary (16-5-1) last night in a 3-0 blowout.

The Garnet cruised ahead of the Cyclones on the strength of first-period goals by DeLorme, Kirsten Peterson ’11 and Taylor Rhodes ’10.

But even though the Garnet outshot their opponents 32-6, the tournament will be no cakewalk.

“These are good teams we’re playing, with good records,” head coach Todd Anckaitis said after the game.

Swarthmore will face Stevenson (15-3-2) on Saturday on the campus of Penn State-Altoona.

Meanwhile, for the women, morale is up. “We can show something in ECACs,” Mutryn said.

They sure can. If Swarthmore wins, it will be the first team ever to do so three years in a row.

---

« RETURN TO SPORTS

« PREV ARTICLE | NEXT ARTICLE »