By Liam O’Murchu (@Liam_0__)
After a late collapse against Howard on Thursday, GW women’s soccer once again fell apart on Sunday in a 3-3 draw with American after leading 3-0 at halftime.
“You can’t be 45 tough, you’ve got to be 90 tough,” GW head coach Michelle Demko said. “You’ve got to compete for 90. We knew what was going to happen in the second half. Even when we were up by three, their energy was as if the game was 0-0. So, in terms of being able to come out and weather that, we’ve got to be better than that.”
The Revolutionaries (3-2-2) didn’t waste any time offensively, as sophomore midfielder Aoi Kataoka found freshman winger Alexa Meinen with an over the top through ball in the third minute. Meinen played the ball across the face of goal off the bounce to freshman forward Kate McGrath, who had her first shot saved from point blank. Fortunately for her, the ball fell right back to her and she made no mistake the second go around.
As the game progressed, GW continued to get in behind the Eagles (0-4-3) backline and play through them with relative ease. Just six minutes after the first goal, Kataoka lofted a corner kick onto the head of McGrath, who headed it into the ground and into the net.
That was McGrath’s third goal of the year, all of which have come in the last two games. She has acclimated herself well to college soccer, using her size and hold up play to allow the offense to run through her. Beyond the two goals, she unlocked the Eagles defense by flicking balls on to GW attackers and occupying the center backs. She probably should have been awarded an assist on the third goal as well, but sometimes the live stats can be unforgiving.
“She gives us the ability to hold balls up,” Demko said. “She’s good in terms of back to goal, facing up to goal, she can turn, she can strike on goal. So I was happy for her.”
GW had multiple opportunities to extend their lead immediately after their second goal, but American junior defender Giuliana Capararo and junior goalkeeper Julia Kato combined to keep the Revs lead at 2-0.
Mid-way through the first half, American started winning more duels in the midfield and putting some pressure on GW. But it was the Revs who would win a ball in the midfield and see McGrath play a through ball, which was flicked on by Kataoka into the path of junior winger Kelly Poole, who side footed it past an onrushing Kato. In the 26th minute, the Revs were in dreamland, up 3-0 on their local rivals before halftime.
The first 30 minutes was one of the better periods of play I’ve ever seen from Kataoka (at least statistically). The Paramus, New Jersey native is now up to six assists on the season after notching two today. That ties her for third all-time in single season assists among GW women’s soccer players, which is a remarkable feat when you consider that she has achieved it in seven games, while it took others a full season (18 games) to get there.
Just before halftime, American had their best chance of the game to that point when senior forward Abby Dillon fired a shot that looked bound for the top corner before graduate student goalkeeper Rose Hemans pushed it over the crossbar.
The Eagles picked up where they left off after the break, forcing another save out of Hemans before recycling the ball and hitting the post. Just two minutes later, in the 52nd minute, American found their breakthrough as freshman forward Lailah Stewart snuck past redshirt junior midfielder Caitlin Cunningham, cut in on freshman midfielder Rose Vigran and hit a left footed shot towards the near post. Hemans got a hand on it, but it wasn’t enough as GW’s lead was now 3-1.
Kataoka had a terrific chance to put the game to bed in the 74th minute off a cross from senior winger Lauren Prentice, but pushed the ball wide of the front post. After that it was all American, as the GW center backs struggled to deal with holding their line and passing off runners.
With 10 minutes remaining, GW’s graduate student defender Emma Lillback misplayed a ball off her knee, Stewart collected it for American and played sophomore forward Alyssa Giroux in on goal. Giroux made no mistake, calmly placing it past Hemans. It was jarring how easily American got into a dangerous area, catching many Revolutionaries up the field unable to put up much resistance.
In the 86th minute, American sophomore midfielder Avery Klingensmith played a hopeful ball over the top which did not look terribly dangerous. Lillback stuck a leg out and got a foot on it, playing it right into the path of Giroux, who once again beat both center backs to the ball and scored past Hemans 1v1. Just like that, it was level and American had scored three times in one match after only having scored once coming into the game.
“If you manage the last eight minutes of the game, it’s no problem, right?” Demko said. “I think sometimes you get in a situation and you don’t feel like you’re in control. And when that happens, things get a little bit chaotic.”
Meinen had the final chance of the day with 40 seconds left in the form of a 1v1 opportunity, which she pushed wide after Poole flicked on a Hemans punt. The reactions from the teams following the game could not have been more different. American was celebrating by far their biggest result of the season while GW needed to reconcile with their second consecutive dropped result in the final moments.
The Revolutionaries head into conference play needing to rebound quickly if they want to make some noise in the Atlantic 10. They’ll open up their conference schedule in Amherst against a UMass team that has beaten Syracuse and drawn with Vanderbilt. Kickoff is at 4 PM on Thursday and the game can be streamed on ESPN+.
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