Jeff Neukom
It was a disappointing trip to Kenosha, Wisconsin this past Saturday for the Illinois Wesleyan University women’s soccer team. Despite posing a significant shot advantage, the Titans couldn’t find a way to beat the Carthage squad, falling 2-1 to the Lady Reds who now sport a 6-7 record.
Although the first half ended scoreless, the Titans’ dominant play made it seem inevitable that it was their game to win. They launched attack after attack down the right side of the field, with both wingers and outside backs getting involved. The Titans pelted Carthage’s back line with crosses, and while they didn’t put any away before halftime, there they were controlling the game.
In a game like this, the halftime break is crucial. Ideally, teams figure out their mistakes and create a plan of attack to come away with a victory. Not so ideally, teams may come out of the break like this year’s Chicago Bears’ squad, inexplicably losing track of what they’d done well in the first half.
For the Titans, the latter did not appear to be the case. Within the first 15 minutes of play, sophomore Sarah Trach found the back of the net for her third goal of the season. The goal came after the Titans laid siege to the Carthage back line, with successive shots on net from junior Sydney Fox, senior Tess Bottorff and senior Brie Siebert. It appeared that they’d finally broke open the floodgates, and that this was only the first of many goals yet to come.
But, the onslaught never came. The Titans tallied 12 shots in the second half, and sophomore goalkeeper Dana Jourdan wasn’t forced to make a single save in the game’s second period. The Lady Reds of Carthage made the most of their opportunities, however, putting away two goals in the final 20 minutes of the game to steal the game from the Titans.
On the loss, Trach said, “We must maintain composure. We had many shots on goal, it is just a matter of staying calm and putting the ball into the net. After scoring we must stay focused as a team and close out to the game in order to get the win.”
The loss puts the Titans at 9-3 overall and 1-1 in the CCIW. Fortunately, they will have opportunities to rebound this week against North Park and Wheaton at Neis field in Bloomington, IL.