Women’s Soccer Off to Best Start Since 2010
The Gettysburg College women’s soccer team (File photo/Gettysburg College Athletics)
By Colin Lawless, Contributing Writer
The Gettysburg Women’s Soccer took down the vising Elizabethtown Blue Jays 2-1 last Saturday night under the lights.
The Bullets came into the matchup with a 2-0 record and high spirits after wins against Mary Washington at home and Bridgewater away.
The Bullets have made winning against Elizabethtown a bit of a hobby in the last few years, having beaten them in 2016 and 2018, while drawing in their 2017 contest. These previous results only helped Coach Garrett’s squad’s confidence going into Saturday night.
The first half was a busy one, but neither team’s efforts seemed to pay off. The Bullets dominated the play, getting ten shots off, four more than the opposing Blue Jays. Even so, neither team found the net in the first half.
At halftime, the Bullets remained as confident as they were pre-game.
“We knew that we were the superior team and that as long as we remained confident and continued to create chances, we’d begin to put them away,” said First-Year Catelyn Woelfle.
She went on to add, “Our formation, which utilized three central defenders, allowed for our wingbacks to give us more numbers offensively.”
While the formation ended up working out, the vision took a little while longer to fully come to fruition.
The second half opened with the Blue Jays having gained a bit of a second wind. They started strong, and their shots started to threaten Bullets’ goaltender Maddie Cunningham ’22. They put one away just before the hour mark, but the Bullets were far from defeated.
Five minutes later, sophomore Erika Muskus scored to get the Bullets back in the game. It was surely coming as Muskus tallied seven shots on the night and was a constant presence in the Blue Jay defensive end.
First-Year Gracie Slevin was the deciding factor as her 70th minute finish proved decisive. Sophomore Emma Bedell found her with a slicing ball across the Blue Jays’ box and Slevin was there to finish.
“It was really exciting. To open my collegiate account with such an important goal felt really good and I’m just really glad I could help the team win,” Slevin said regarding her decisive goal.
The come from behind victory is the third for the Bullets this season, which marks their best start to the season since 2010. They hope to continue their winning ways when Lebanon Valley visits Clark Field this Saturday. The Dutchmen have a mid week game Wednesday against Misericordia University while the Bullets have a full week of practice to prepare.
