It was another week, another win for the Swarthmore women’s soccer team, as the squad extended its winning streak to four with a Saturday victory over Franklin & Marshall.
The win over the Diplomats marked the first Centennial Conference game of the year, as well as the Garnet home opener.
Although the Swarthmore women played only one match in the past week, the game carried through several positive trends that have accompanied the past four wins.
The defense, which has surrendered just one goal in its past four games, remained tight in the 2-0 shutout of the Diplomats. The Garnet also turned in solid offensive performances up and down the lineup, including key contributions from the first-year class.
“Our defense has definitely been holding down the fort lately,” senior midfielder Emily Coleman ’12 said. “I think it just took us a couple games to gel defensively. Defense is a very tactical position, and I think our defenders just needed time to figure each other out.”
“We’re getting it done on both sides of the ball,” head coach Todd Anckaitis said. “We’ve averaged two goals a game for the last four games and only given up one … That is how you put together a successful season. If we can continue to do this on average we’ll be in pretty good shape.”
Goalie Marie Mutryn ’12 continued her impressive senior campaign, spending another unblemished 90 minutes at the net. Mutryn has now allowed just one goal in her past 336.5 minutes, making eleven saves along the way.
“Mutryn continues to carry the tradition of having the top goalkeeping in the conference wearing a Swarthmore jersey,” Anckaitis said.
“Our stellar defense has left her to only display her talents a few times a game, which I’m sure she appreciates,” she added.
“My success really goes hand-in-hand with my defense and team’s success,” said Mutryn after last week’s 1-0 overtime blanking of Scranton. “I try my best to be a leader out on the field. I hope that when I make a save, this inspires and pumps-up my teammates to do better in not allowing an opponent’s offense to get those opportunities.”
On the offensive side, the first-year duo of Amy DiPierro ’15 and Emma Sindelar ’15 continued to get the job done from midfield. On a night where the Garnet outshot the Diplomats 13-7, it was DiPierro’s 31st-minute shot (her second goal of the year) that gave Swarthmore the lead, and Sindelar’s header with fifteen seconds left to play put the icing on the cake. Amber Famiglietti ’14 picked up the assist on Sindelar’s third goal of the season.
“Emma and Amy have been succeeding in terms of goals, but all of our freshman are surpassing our already high expectations,” Coleman said of her new teammates. “They’re all genuinely excited to be playing on the team, and their excitement shows in their performance. They’re great players and great girls. We are so happy to see them performing at such a high level.”
On Wednesday, the Garnet fell to Ursinus 6-3. Conference play continues on Saturday for the Garnet, as the team travels to Dickinson for a noon match.
With a tough conference schedule looming in the immediate future, players and coaches alike know that the “A-game” will have to be par for the course to ensure a successful season.
“Our conference has gotten better from top to bottom so we’re going to have to bring energy to every game,” Anckaitis said. “The team understands that nobody is going to give us anything this year. We’re going to have to earn it.”
Correction: September 24, 2011
This article incorrectly states that the team lost to Ursinus 6-3 on Wednesday. In reality, Swarthmore defeated Ursinus 3-0 to extend their winning streak to five games.
