Women’s soccer lost 3-0 to La Salle on Thursday afternoon to extend their winless skid to five games.
The Revolutionaries (3-4-3, 0-2-1 A10) looked outmatched from the beginning as they failed to score a goal for the third straight match. The team has now gone 334 consecutive minutes without scoring, dating back to a 3-3 draw with American on September 10.
The Explorers (3-5-2, 1-1 A10) were on the front foot from the jump, getting the ball in dangerous areas and causing problems for GW’s back line. Particularly involved was sophomore forward Rischya Walker, who terrorized GW’s center backs from start to finish.
The Philadelphia native first showed how dangerous she could be in the 11th minute when she snuck in behind and drew junior goalkeeper Ainsley Lumpe off her line, forcing a goal line clearance. Although she was unable to score, this was a preview of what was to come.
In the 20th minute she once again got into a dangerous area, forcing a nice save out of an onrushing Lumpe. But 11 minutes later, GW would get an opportunity of their own after redshirt junior Caitlin Cunningham won a duel and played senior winger Lauren Prentice in on goal. However, junior goalkeeper Michela Auguadro was equal to it, rushing out and blocking the shot.
The breakthrough for La Salle would come in the 40th minute when sophomore midfielder Elizabeth Estrada whipped a corner kick in and junior forward Haley Gschrey headed it back where it came from and into the side netting. As has happened often this year, the Revs lost their runner and paid the price as the Explorers headed into the break up a goal.
The Revolutionaries needed to come out of the locker room and create chances if they wanted to get back into the match. But the wind was taken out of their sails 30 seconds into the second half when sophomore midfielder Aoi Kataoka, who leads the team (and conference) in assists, took an elbow to the face and had to go to the locker room. Although she wouldn’t return to the game, she did return to the sideline with roughly 10 minutes left (with a massive bandage next to her left eye) and did a few warmup jogs down the sideline, indicating she may have been able to return to the match if necessary.
The ball fell to junior winger Kelly Poole on top of the box in the 54th minute after some nice holdup play by freshman forward Kate McGrath. Poole would rifle her shot off the crossbar for GW’s best opportunity of the game and their final one to equalize.
Sophomore goalkeeper Grace Crowe, who entered the match at halftime, came up with a big save in the 56th minute to keep the Revs in it but freshman defender Hope Ku-Dipietro tripped Walker up in the box in the 59th minute and the Explorers had a penalty. Senior midfielder Alyssa Gargiulo stepped up and buried it, going to Crowe’s bottom right. Credit to Crowe, she dove the right way but the penalty was so well taken that it didn’t matter.
The Explorers got their insurance goal in the 84th minute after senior midfielder Caitlin Donovan glanced a header into the path of graduate student midfielder Emily Banashefski, who took it off her chest, beat a defender and put a deflected shot in at the near post. Donovan was very active all day and was unfortunate not to have a goal, although the assist is a nice consolation prize.
The Revolutionaries lacked killer instinct going forward all day and could not handle the La Salle attack. After starting the season with 17 goals in their first seven games, they have not scored in their last three. If they want to make the Atlantic 10 playoffs that has to change and an improvement defensively would be welcome too.
They will look to turn the tide on Sunday at 2 PM when they visit Loyola Chicago in another A10 matchup. That game can be streamed on ESPN+.
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