Women’s Soccer Undefeated Season Ended by Haverford and F&M

The Gettysburg College Women's Soccer team (Photo courtesy of Gettysburg College Athletics)

The Gettysburg College Women’s Soccer team (Photo courtesy of Gettysburg College Athletics)

By Kyle Miller, Staff Writer

The Gettysburg Women’s Soccer Team had been on a run for the ages to start the 2019 season. The Bullets were winners of nine straight games, giving them their first national ranking (#25 in Division 3) since 2014.

Sadly the Bullets win streak came to an end. The win streak was snapped with a loss to Haverford this past weekend and another against Franklin & Marshall this past Wednesday. Both losses were tight games that could have gone either way.

The game against Haverford was a very even defensive battle. The game only produced 13 shots, 8 for Gettysburg and 5 for Haverford, and only 6 shots on target. In the first half, each team’s goalies made saves on the limited shots that were taken.

Both defenses looked strong, blocking shot attempts. In the second half, the Bullets offense looked much better, but could just not sneak it by the Haverford goalie. Hannah Friedrich ‘22 made saves on senior Brigitte Mullineaux ‘20 in the 60th minute and Erika Muskus ‘22 in the 71st minute.

While Gettysburg outshot Haverford, it all came down to one look. In the 73rd minute, Alyssa Saito scored for what ended up being the game-winner. The Bullets almost responded, but a strike from Julia Myers ‘21 went wide in the 78th minute. It was a tough loss that could have gone either way.

Next, the Bullets traveled to Lancaster to take on the rival Diplomats. The Diplomats are much better when they are home, as they have picked up 5 out of their 7 wins in Lancaster.

It was a rainy game and, despite the weather, the Diplomats came out shooting. Maddie Cunningham ‘22 made 2 of her match-high saves in the first 11 minutes of the game. The Bullets tried to take the lead late in the first half, but a shot from Grace Slevin ‘23 was blocked.

Gettysburg’s only shot on goal came from Muskus at the start of the second half. Offensively the Bullets really did not seem as if they could get anything going, a lot of credit is due to the Diplomats defense. Diplomat Emma Cleary ‘23 looked to win the match late, but her shot was saved by Cunningham.

This was the Bullets first time in overtime this season and it did not go the way they hoped, ending only after 4 minutes. F&M’s Izzy Hunter ‘23 crossed the ball from the left side of the box to Meg O’Callahan ‘23, who kicked into the upper 90 for the game-winner. Another heartbreaker for the Bullets.

Gettysburg has shown this season that they are a very special team capable of winning every game. Head Coach Matt Garrett said, “We must stick together and keep working hard and believing we can do it.”

These losses do not change the fact that the Bullets are a real threat to win the Centennial Conference and also hopefully make a run in the NCAA tournament.

The Bullets will get a break from conference play with a mid-week matchup against Catholic University this Wednesday, Oct. 23 on Clark Field at 7:00 p.m.

Author: Gettysburgian Staff

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