By Joe Caruso
Staff Writer
The 14th-ranked Lions lost consecutive games last week against #22 Bryn Mawr College and #2 Johns Hopkins University, with scores of 2-1 and 4-0, respectively.
It was a tough break for The College, having to play two of the three ranked opponents they face this season in the same week. They also had to travel over 100 miles to Baltimore to face the highly-touted Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins. But first, on Wednesday, Sept. 11, the Lions hosted Bryn Mawr College. The Owls are no slouch themselves, ranked at #22 and surely to rise after this matchup.
Sophomore Isabel Maher got The College started, scoring early in the second quarter to put the Lions ahead 1-0. It was the first goal of the season for Maher, on a rebound from senior Rayhanah Ahmed.
This lead held through halftime, despite pacing the game in shot attempts. Mostly thanks to junior goalkeeper Birgitte Racey, who stopped a career-high 13 shots on goal in the contest. The Lions were unable to generate much offense despite finding the back of the net first.
Bryn Mawr refused to let up. In the third quarter alone, the Owls fired seven shots compared to zero from the Lions. Racey continued to stand on her head holding the shutout into the fourth.
However, two minutes into the final quarter, Owls senior Eva Yacura evened the game up at one goal a piece. The score of 1-1 held into an extra period.
Despite great chances from the Lions in the early stages of the overtime period, Bryn Mawr took this one on a game-winning goal from junior Noor Werndlij.
This loss was nothing for the College to dwell on, as the Owls had just been seasoned with back-to-back ranked opponents of their own, beating #12 Kean University as well as dropping a tight game in overtime to #17 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Regardless, they had to prepare to travel to Johns Hopkins to take on the daunting Blue Jays.
Hosting the College, Johns Hopkins is undoubtedly one of the teams to beat in the country, having two major wins over #10 Rowan University and #5 Messiah University heading into this matchup. Not to mention their 21-2 season along with a championship appearance in 2023. Against the Lions, they certainly lived up to the expectations.
It did not take long for the Blue Jays to get on the board, scoring two goals, one of which was with just a second left in the first quarter to catapult themselves ahead 2-0.
It was much of the same for the rest of the game, as Johns Hopkins dominated with 22 shots to just six for the College, and tacked on two more goals to cruise to a 4-0 victory.
It was two games in a row that the offense for the Lions could not get going and that will surely be something they will look to improve upon.
Although a tough loss, veteran head coach Sharon Pfluger will continue to get the squad ready to go as they approach New Jersey Athletic Conference play. Their next game action is Saturday, Sept. 21 when they host Messiah University.
