Women’s Soccer
This weekend featured a whirlwind of emotions for the women’s soccer team. As the top seed in the Centennial Conference tournament, the Garnet had high expectations. In Saturday’s semifinals versus Ursinus, the team did not disappoint. Though the teams were tied 0-0 at the half, Swarthmore wasted little time in the second half before they put the game out of reach. In the 49th minute, Amanda Bosworth ’16 headed in a perfect corner kick from Melissa Trofa ’16. Just one minute later, Katherine Zavez ’17 scored off of a pass from Katie Dougherty ’18. Finally, in the 53rd minute, Caroline Khanna ’17 tallied her eighth goal of the season, effectively putting the nail in Ursinus’ coffin. Swarthmore preserved the lead, winning the contest 3-0.
On Sunday, Swarthmore faced off against Johns Hopkins in a rematch of last year’s final. Marin McCoy ’19 opened up the scoring in the sixth minute with her 14th goal and conference-leading 38th point of the season. McCoy actually set the school record for points in a season, edging out the mark Katie Kanuka ’10 set in 2006 (37).
In the 58th minute, however, Hopkins struck back. They scored on a scrum in front of the net. Initially, it appeared that Swarthmore goalie Reba Magier ’16 had made the save, punching it out of the net. Yet, the referee ruled that the ball crossed the goal line, awarding the goal to Hopkins. From where the referee was positioned, it did not seem like she could have been able to tell that the entire ball crossed the line, but the goal stood nonetheless.
Ultimately, the game went into double overtime and finished in the 102nd minute when Hopkins took advantage of a Swarthmore defensive miscue.
Despite the loss, the Garnet still moved up two spots in the NCAA DIII rankings to number 10 in the nation. Furthermore, they were given an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and will be hosting the first round of the tournament for their bracket this weekend. Their next game will be at 5 pm on Clothier Field this Saturday versus St. Joseph’s College. If they win, they will play again on Sunday, also at home.
Volleyball
Just like the soccer team, the volleyball team gave everything they had this past weekend. On Saturday, the team faced off against Haverford in the conference semi-finals. After losing to Haverford the weekend before, the Garnet came out firing on all cylinders. They won both the first and second sets by a score of 25-16. However, they dropped the third and fourth by scores of 18-25 and 23-25.
In the fifth set, Swarthmore regrouped. They went blow for blow with Haverford and even earned a match point at 14-13 (teams play to 15 in the fifth set). However, the Garnet could not convert and ultimately lost the set 16-18.
Though they lost, all-conference players Sarah Wallace ’18 and Sam DuBois ’16 had stellar games. Wallace recorded a double-double with 18 kills and 23 digs, while DuBois also notched a double-double with 37 assists and 15 digs. Sarah Girard ’19, another all-conference player, also had a nice game with 21 digs.
The team is not done with their season yet. They qualified for the ECAC tournament and played a quarterfinal match last night against FDU-Florham. Madison Heppe ’16 set a new program record in career digs. The Garnet will face their next opponent, Lebanon Valley, on Nov. 14.
Men’s and Women’s Swimming
The men’s and women’s swimming teams went out to a dual meet at Franklin & Marshall’s on Saturday, where the men dominated en route to winning 180-65 while the women were dealt a close defeat 133-129.
F&M’s men were unable to overcome the Garnet in capacity, who won every event and took first and second place in seven of them. Many of the men’s swimmers won multiple events, including Liam Fitzstevens ’17, Jeff Tse ’19, Michael Lutzker ’19, and Charles Yang ’19. The 200-yard breaststroke was a fine example of the team’s performance, as CJ Cling ’18, Jason Fu ’18, and Jerry Gu ’19 took first, second, and third in the event, respectively.
Although the women’s team was ranked two places below F&M in the preseason poll, they put up a fight that showed they were very much level. Ashley Hwang ’18 came in first in both the 100- and 200-yard freestyle races, while Emily Bley ’19 also won two events. Despite these and many other impressive performances, however, the Garnet was unable to get the win.
The men’s team currently has a 2-0 record while the women are 1-1 (all meets in-conference so far). Both of the teams will compete next in a meet next Saturday at Widener, where they hope to add crucial wins to their conference record.
