Women’s Soccer
This past weekend, the women’s soccer team lived up to their reputation as the 2014 Centennial Conference Champions and not only defeated all three of their opponents but destroyed them. During their first week of the 2015 season, the women scored a total of 25 goals. Their opponents? 0.
The team officially began conference play against Widener last Tuesday with a strong first half in which they led and ultimately finished the game at 4-0. Caroline Khanna ’17 scored the Garnet’s first goal of the season in the 10th minute, followed by Claire O’Brien ’18, who scored the first goal of her Swarthmore career. Katie Dougherty ’18 scored in the 36th minute bringing up the lead to 3-0 before Caroline Meier ’19 also scored her first collegiate goal and closed out the half 4-0.
But winning wasn’t enough for the Garnet. This past Saturday, the women broke program and Centennial Conference records in their game against Neumann for number of goals in a half (11) and a game (15). Twelve teammates all found the back of the net during the game including Marin McCoy ’19, Sommer Denison ’18, and Emily Gale ’16, who all scored two goals apiece. Three of the team’s total goals came from newcomers McCoy, Kayla Handel ’19, and Meier. The Garnet concluded the game with a total of 26 shots on goal while The Knights managed only three shots on goal.
Hannah Lichtenstein ’17 led the way for the Garnet at the Swarthmore and Bryn Mawr Invitational’s closing game against St. John Fisher, in which she scored half of the team’s total 6 points against the Cardinals’ 0. Just 40 seconds into the game, Lichtenstein scored the first goal of the game and went on to score the second in the 12th minute. Emily Telford-Marx ’16 followed suit by knocking Melissa Trofa’s ’16 corner kick off of a defender and finding the back of the net. Lichtenstein opened the second half with an exciting running header after which Dougherty and Khanna both contributed the team’s final goals.
Swarthmore hopes to repeat last weekend’s victories this upcoming Saturday as they face Rowan University at home.
Men’s Soccer
The men’s soccer team currently stands at 1-2 after falling to Drew and Cabrini 0-1 and 1-2 respectively but bouncing back against Kean and nabbing their first win of the season 2-1.
Although the Garnet was unable to score during the game against Drew, Ryan Meuth ’17 got Swarthmore onto the scoreboard against Cabrini with a penalty kick after a foul. However, Cabrini clinched the win during overtime and brought the final score to 1-2 in favor of the Cavaliers.
Yuheng Wang ’19 scored the first and, ultimately, the winning goal against Kean College on Sunday in the 38th minute, just two minutes after he subbed into the game. This goal marks the first in his collegiate career. Goalie Tyler Zon ’16 also contributed to the win and blocked 7 on-goal shots resulting in the 1-0 shutout.
The men will return to the field this Saturday in a non-conference away game at Wilkes University.
Volleyball
The volleyball team played four games this past weekend in the Swarthmore-Haverford Invitational. Although they lost both of their match-ups on Saturday at Haverford, they were able to salvage a split on Sunday at home after sweeping SUNY-New Paltz in their final game.
Cabrini was up first for the Garnet. Although the team managed to take the first set, the Cavaliers recovered strongly and took the next three sets to win the game. Sarah Wallace ’18 finished the game with a double-double after notching 11 digs and 12 kills.
In Game 2 on Saturday, the Garnet were swept by Carnegie Mellon despite keeping each of the sets consistently close, losing 25-21, 25-21, 25-20. Sarah Girard ’19 led the team with 12 digs, while Sam Dubois ’16 added 26 assists. Carnegie Mellon would ultimately go on to win the Invitational the next day.
Day 2 began in similar fashion, with the team falling to Stevenson in their first game in four sets after winning the first. However, the Garnet were able to close out the Invitational on a strong note against New Paltz, comfortably winning 25-11, 25-17, 25-13. Wallace was named to the All-Tournament team at the end of the invitational for her strong performances throughout.
After the weekend, the team’s record now stands at 2-3. They will be playing next weekend at the Greensboro Invitational in North Carolina against West Virginia Wesleyan and Greensboro on Day 1 and Oglethorpe and Emory & Henry on Day 2.
