After piling up an impressive three-game win streak, the USM women’s soccer team was denied their fourth straight against St. Joseph’s College last Monday at Gorham. The Huskies drop to 7-5-3, while the Monks improve to 7-6-1 on the season.
USM controlled the ball on their side for most of the game, but could not find the net. The Huskies were shut out by the Monks 2-0.
St. Joseph’s first goal was captured by senior midfielder Kelly Cyr (St. Agatha, ME) who broke away from the pack and lofted the ball into the net with 3:24 remaining in the first half.
USM went into the break trailing 1-0, needing to make adjustments to capitalize on their ball control.
But it was the Monks who struck again with 35:30 remaining in the game. Freshman Midfielder Morgan Meserve (Scarborough, ME) found a seam between USM defenders and connected with Cyr, for her second goal of the game. This proved to be the dagger in the Huskies’ heart, who couldn’t get past Monks senior goalie, Shana Howard ((Warren, ME).
After the disappointing loss, USM Coach Steve Quinones spoke about what his team was missing.
“It’s hard to say. We just didn’t come to play. Today was a big emotional letdown. I think we thought it would be too easy playing St. Joe’s. They came to play and we just weren’t prepared for it.”
An emotionally drained senior co-captain, Amanda Valeriani (South Portland, ME) described what her team will need to do to bounce back from this crushing defeat.
“We need to practice. We’re doing well, but after today we need to pick it up and get our team back together.”
The Huskies will not lie down and play dead after this loss; rather they will continue to pursue their seasons’ goals.
“We’re already in the playoffs. Our goal is to be in the top three (Little East Conference teams), so we can have a game at home,” Valeriani said.
USM will conclude their regular season hosting Colby College on Tuesday and a strong Eastern Connecticut team on Saturday in a Little East conference clash.
The first round of the Little East conference playoffs will begin on Tuesday, November 2.