With referees seemingly partial to the opposing team and a rowdy crowd influencing calls, Swarthmore women’s soccer lost for the first time in their 2018 season. The Garnet were missing one of their starting defenders due to injury, captain Caroline Coats ՚19, who has proven to be a key player with her speed and skills on the ball. Louise Rosler ՚20 and Ally Scheve ՚22 stepped up in response to her absence. Though the No. 22 ranked Garnet (10-1-1) outshot the Rams 22-5, Farmingdale State College (10-3-1) scored the game’s only goal in the 88th minute of the game, leaving Swarthmore with minimal time to make a comeback.
Post-match, senior captain Caroline Coats said, “We need to work on the little things,” and commented on the three hour bus ride from Swarthmore to Long Island saying, “It’s hard to get pumped up and ready to play after sitting for so long.”
Fellow senior captain Yasmeen Namazie also commented saying, “I think we learned some valuable lessons from the game. We didn’t get the result we wanted, but it definitely gave us an idea of how to respect every opponent we compete with, taking advantage of scoring opportunities, and how to take better accountability defensively.”
Coach Todd Anckaitis also added, “Despite a momentary lapse at Farmingdale, I’m feeling really good about our next matchup. We have a lot of experience and a lot of depth that has proven itself against six regionally ranked teams already this season. We’re up for another good, in conference, challenge and are looking forward to working hard to earn the three points that are out there for us on Saturday.”
On October 6, Farmingdale faced No. 3 ranked Williams (9-0-2), which proved to be an equally challenging game. Just as Swarthmore outshot Farmingdale, Williams also outshot the Rams, 22-7, but no goals were scored by the end of regulation. Williams was finally able to sneak one by the Farmingdale keeper after the ball came loose in the box in the 97th minute of play.
Despite the loss for Swarthmore, the Farmingdale game proved to be valuable prep for the Garnet prior to their annual rivalry match against No. 4 ranked Johns Hopkins (11-1-0).
Like Swarthmore, Johns Hopkins will also be going into the match with one loss, theirs being to No. 2 ranked Messiah. While Hopkins swept multiple teams during the preseason, winning 5-1 versus Washington and Lee and 7-0 versus Shenandoah, they have struggled to find the net as frequently against quality competition in Centennial Conference games. Hopkins has won their last three conference games — edging past Haverford 2-0, Dickinson 1-0, and Muhlenberg 1-0 — by either rallying in the second half to score or scoring by penalty kick.
The last time the Garnet faced Hopkins was the 2017 Centennial Conference Championship. This back and forth game was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation, included two overtime periods, and culminated in a penalty kick shootout where the Garnet won 3-2 to take home the championship trophy.
The women’s soccer team has had a phenomenal season thus far, winning the Stevens Engineering Cup in Hoboken and only allowing five goals in 12 games. The team has had eight shutouts this season, thanks to goalkeepers Amy Shmoys ՚19, Chantal Reyes ՚22, and Sydney White ՚22.
Leading the team in goals this year is none other than All-American Marin McCoy ՚19, who has netted seven goals so far and has become the first player in Swarthmore women’s soccer history to score 50 career goals. Close behind are Sydney Covitz ՚20 and Brittany Weiderhold ՚20 with four goals apiece and Lizzie King ՚21 with three. Marin McCoy ՚19 is not only the top goal scorer, but she also leads the team with five assists, while Amy Harris ՚19 is closely behind her lead with four.
For the Garnet, moving forward in the season will require focus and dedication, especially during conference games. Namazie mentioned, “This is the strongest I think our team has been in my four years at Swat and while this was a disappointing result, I have every bit of faith in every single player and don’t want to distract from how far we have come as a team. For this reason, I think our emphasis should be taking every game at a time, despite our aspirations to play well into the off-season.”
Though Swarthmore has now lost and tied on the road, they hope to continue to win all of their home games. They are scheduled to play Johns Hopkins at 6 p.m. on Saturday, October 13 at Clothier Field.
