Women’s soccer saw their winless streak move to seven games on Thursday afternoon with a 3-1 loss to Saint Joseph’s.
The Revolutionaries (3-6-3, 0-4-1 A10) conceded in the first five minutes of the match for the second game in a row and were unable to dig themselves out of that hole. The Hawks (2-5-5, 2-0-2 A10) on the other hand, dominated the first half and never looked back to move themselves into the playoff spots.
Five minutes in, senior forward Sam Dumont got to the end line and played in a cross on the ground. GW junior defender Maya Goudesuene attempted to clear but it fell right to freshman forward Juliette Muro, who rifled it home from inside the six yard box.
The Hawks controlled the tempo of the game while forcing GW to come to them, stymying the Revs attack and picking out their moments to get forward. In the 39th minute they struck again when freshman midfielder Nicole Everard turned GW over and played it to freshman forward Emily Hanrahan, who cut inside and curled it to the far post. While GW junior goalkeeper Ainsley Lumpe may want that one back, it seemed like her vision was obstructed by a defender.
Either way, GW headed into the break down two goals and bereft of ideas up top. Their chance creation issues were compounded by the fact that their best chance creator, sophomore midfielder Aoi Kataoka was not in uniform. It’s unclear exactly what her injury is but I was told she needs to “clear protocol” before she can get back on the field. If I had to guess, I would say that her injury stems from an elbow she took to the face in last week’s 3-0 loss to La Salle.
GW came out of halftime in a 3-back formation, which is the first time they’ve moved away from their typical 4-back all year. While there were some hiccups, the formation change did what it was supposed to do: get numbers forward and create more chances. Junior midfielder Abby Mansoor in particular looked rejuvenated by the tweak in tactics, getting stuck into tackles and looking to spring Revs attacks.
Another GW player who was a bright spot in the second half was freshman defender Hope Ku-Dipietro, who made a remarkable last ditch tackle in the 66th minute to clear the ball after the Hawks got in behind. Ku-Dipietro looked comfortable on the ball, picking out passes while not being afraid to get stuck into a tackle defensively.
In the 70th minute Muro got to the corner and played a ball back to Everard, who laid it off to sophomore forward Natalee Vicari. From there Vicari put it over the head of sophomore goalkeeper Grace Crowe and into the net. With 20 minutes left, the Hawks were soaring.
After missing the last three games, Revs freshman winger Alexa Meinen came back into the fold and looked dangerous, using her speed to threaten St. Joes’ backline and create chances.
But GW’s breakthrough came in the 83rd minute when GW junior midfielder Amelia Booth fired a cross into Margaret Rabbit, who contorted her body and put a pseudo bicycle kick towards the far post and in. After 507 straight minutes without a goal, the Revolutionaries were on the board and did so in style.
The goal was a nice reward for a second half where GW looked much better offensively, but it was just a consolation. The clock is ticking for the Revs to get things going in Atlantic 10 play, as they currently sit 14th out of 15 teams halfway through their conference slate. Eight teams qualify for the postseason and GW sits five points out of the playoff spots heading into the Thursday night slate of games.
Next up is a Dayton team that sits 33rd in RPI and second in the A10. That one is at home on Sunday at 1 PM. After that the Revs hit the road for three straight matches.
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