Author: Jack Ridenour

The Women’s Soccer team won 2-1 Saturday, Oct. 1 against Presidents’ Athletic Conference rival Washington and Jefferson College. The Cougars entered the contest Saturday with a record of 5-1-2. Washington and Jefferson entered Saturday standing at 6-3-1, neither team having played a PAC conference game.
This was the Cougars’ first test against a conference opponent for the season. The game followed a tie against Carlow University and a big win against Penn State Altoona.

The first half was pretty even, as both teams scored one goal each. Going into the second half tied up, the teams played relatively even, with neither team scoring.
Statistically, the Cougars outplayed Washington and Jefferson. They controlled the game in regulation, outshooting the Presidents 33 to 26.
The first overtime was again played pretty evenly by both teams. With neither team scoring, the game went into a second overtime. The second overtime was played evenly as well, until the Cougars scored on a corner kick in minute 102. This was a huge win going forward as they continue to play in conference matchups.
“I feel our biggest area of growth as a team that led us to the win was our relentless ability to finish out the game.” said junior forward/midfielder Megan Sieg, a Biology major. “Throughout the year we have let teams score within the last ten minutes of the game, but on Saturday we kept our focus and didn’t let them get good opportunities to finish the game,” she said. The Cougars will need to continue to finish out games as their season goes on.
“Well we went into that game knowing the other team thought they had a guaranteed win.” said first-year midfielder/forward Emily Nolan, a Biology major. “So our goal was to gain respect and the way we did that was by winning. We had confidence in each other the whole time,” Nolan said. The team can continue to gain more respect from their conference foes, with more impressive wins in and out of conference.
The Cougars will continue to face other opponents in the PAC. “I think we have a shot to be really competitive in the PAC this year, which is exciting because it is something that the school has never done before,” said Katie Sieg, a defense/midfielder and Biology major. “We just have to take it one game at a time and keep growing as a team.”  Every conference game will be important for them as the season goes on.

With their big win and confident play, the Cougars are going to be seen as tough opponents. They must continue to finish off games and not allow teams back into the game.