Angad Singh
Sports Editor
The College of Wooster women’s soccer team is all set to dominate the conference again this year, with the Fighting Scots remaining undefeated in their last six games. The Scots have outscored, outplayed, outshot and overall dominated in all of their games so far. The team is 5-0-1, with the solitary tie being the second game played against Adrian on Sep. 1. Moving forward after the tie, the team has picked up four straight wins since and is confident on continuing their winning streak.
The first win was against the Mount St. Joseph Lions when the Scots won by a margin of 1-0, with Claire Davis ’20 giving them the lead with the help of a cross by Miura Wiley ’21. It was the stats sheet which showcased that they overshot the Lions by 19-11. On their unbeaten run Davis said, “I think the team is off to a great start this year and I definitely think that we have the potential to win conference again. Right now, though we have to focus on improving each week and not be too confident in our abilities. We can’t get lazy and think it will be an easy ride the rest of the season because there are going to be battles.”
But it was not just the offense which brought the game home for the team, goalkeeper Molly Hutter ’21 stopped about six opportunities from finding the back of the net. Defender Mackenzie Goltz ’20 credits Hutter’s ability to hold the ball as a great factor. She stated, “We are often out-shooting our competitors and we have had several shut-outs thanks to Molly and the defensive efforts of the whole team. As we continue to improve, I think we are going to become a lot more lethal with our shots and possession.” Goltz, Alexa Bencic ’22 and Kelsey Stone ’20 in the backline have been an amazing element which have contributed to the team’s run.
The team outshot the John Carroll University Blue Streaks 20-6 with the Scots Clinching a 3-1 win over their opponents. They opened their scoresheet in the first 30 seconds of the game with striker Holly Thompson ‘22 sinking a goal, her third of the season. The Blue Streaks came back with a goal within the next minute, but it was striker Wiley who curbed their advance with a goal in the 14th minute. She took a pass in the back field, ran and dribbled past two defenders to give the Fighting Scots the win, followed by an insurance goal by midfielder Brie Jarrell ’21 in the second half, the first goal of her collegiate career. Speaking on the season further, Hutter said, “Moving ahead, we feel strong and encouraged to keep up our level of play. We are able to rely on each other on and off the field and build each other up.”
For the third straight win against Kalamazoo College, the Scots scored two goals to Kalamazoo’s zero, earning a shutout for the team. They scored early into the first half with Kelsey Hall ’20 finding Davis, who scored a very impressive header, giving the Scots an early lead which was latter padded with Krenare Rakoci ’20’s goal in the 59th minute. Hutter ended the game with an impressive performance of six saves.
The Scots upped the ante as they played against Westminster on Sep. 21. The game was another shutout for the Scots, with Hall scoring just eight minutes into the game, followed by Thompson whose goal in the 24th minute simply padded the victory. The Scots outshot the Titans 15-8.
With confidence in their abilities, the senior place an immense amount of faith in the new first-year class.Davis stated, “The new first-year class of players has brought a lot of potential to the group. I think with time their confidence will grow and I am excited to see that happen throughout the season. They help make the game enjoyable and the team chemistry is better than it ever has been.” Going off what Davis stated, Hall continued, “They are all very hardworking and bring a lot of positivity to the team. They fit into our team culture really well and push everyone to be better!”
When asked whether they felt any pressure coming back this year after the amazing season they had last year, Goltz said, “I wouldn’t say that we have added pressure after being conference champions. A lot of the other teams in our conference don’t expect us to win. But they didn’t expect us to win last year either. We don’t conform to the outside pressures and expectations. We are here to play our game, and the expectations that our coaches and teammates have are the same every season. We are striving to win the conference for ourselves and that drives us to play our best every day.” Expanding on that, Hutter said, “As defending champions, we definitely have a target on our back going into conference, but nothing we can’t handle.”