By Danya Long
Editor-in-Chief
The Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College soccer team continues the fight to keep at least a .500 win percentage for the 2010 season. With only two games left in the season before nationals, the Pomeroys have earned their 5-5-1 record so far. They faced off against Berea College, rival Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and Kaskaskia College since the beginning of October.
On Oct. 2, the Pomeroys took on Berea College at home. Starting the month off right, SMWC came away with a 7-0 win. The Pomeroys controlled possession during the majority of the game, not allowing Berea the opportunity to score. Senior Erin Pugh, who was named USCAA women’s soccer player of the week for her performance against Berea and Trine University, began the scoring for SMWC early in the game. She received a pass from senior Britt Simmerman in the 8th minute and found the top right part of the goal.
Senior Briauna Davis assisted Pugh in the 23rd minute to score the second Pomeroy goal. To finish the first half, sophomore Logan Jones received a ball from junior Jessica Black and added the third goal, making the score at halftime 3-0 in favor of SMWC.
Pugh struck twice more in the second half, once assisted by Black and the other was unassisted. She left the game with four goals, the most ever scored in a single game by a Pomeroy player.
Freshman Alice Trejo Wilson added the last two goals for SMWC. Her first was about the 85th minute as she found her way around the last two defenders. The second came just three minutes later, finding the bottom left corner of the net. The team’s 7-0 win gave them a record of 5-4.
A cross-town rivalry was held on the RHIT soccer field on Oct. 6 against SMWC. In a very well played and hard-fought game, but the Pomeroys couldn’t quite overtake the Engineers.
Rose-Hulman took control on the kickoff, but SMWC quickly got the ball back and nearly scored on the drive. The Engineers made a lot of attacks on the goal, forcing SMWC senior goalkeeper April Baranowski to make some very crucial saves. Until the very end of the first half, the game remained at 0-0. With just over a minute left in the half, RHIT was able to find the goal and end the half with a 1-0 lead.
The second half showed more Engineer control of possession. They scored their second goal early in the second half off a corner kick that got hit in. Another RHIT goal ended the game with a 3-0 score and a loss for the Pomeroys. This loss evened the record for SMWC at 5-5 with only three games left in the regular season.
On Oct. 14, the Pomeroys traveled to Kaskaskia College. SMWC was “out for revenge” against the team that had earlier defeated them in the season, according to Head Coach Mike Aycock. While the Pomeroys controlled possession most of the first five minutes, they were unable to break the Kaskaskia defense. The offense out-possessed their opponents in the attacking third 24-14, but the half ended with the scoreboard still reading 0-0.
The second half was much the same as the first. Kaskaskia scored a goal with about 32 minutes left in the game, making the score 1-0.
Shortly after the goal, a collision happened between Simmerman and a Kaskaskia defender. The defender went up for a header and made contact with Simmerman’s head instead of the ball. Simmerman was forced out of the game because of the threat of a concussion.
The Pomeroys were able to answer this goal with one of their own with 13 minutes to play. Pugh got around the right side of the defense and found the top left part of the goal, evening up the score at 1-1. Baranowski made a crcial save just before the buzzer, keeping the score tied at the end.
With the score even, the Pomeroys went up against Kaskaskia in double overtime, both periods 10 minutes each. Both teams fought hard, but neither could put another ball in the goal. The game ended in a tie at 1-1.
The tie is better than a loss, but this means that the two remaining home games for SMWC will be very important, said Aycock.
The Pomeroys will take on Oakland City University at home on Oct. 19. Later that week they will host Robert Morris-Springfield on Oct. 23.
Shortly after the last two games, the SMWC soccer team will find out if they earned a bid to the USCAA National Tournament to be held at Virginia Tech on Nov. 4 through Nov. 6.
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