The Emory women's soccer team continued their late-season push on Nov. 1 with a 4-0 victory against University Athletic Association (UAA) foe Brandeis University (Mass.) Judges. On Nov. 3, the Eagles won yet another UAA game in a 3-0 shutout against the New York University (NYU) Violets. The two wins extended the Eagles’ win streak to five games, giving the Eagles a 12-4 record on the season and a 4-2 conference record.
In their first match of the weekend, the Eagles started off strong with freshman forward Aubrey Blanchard scoring against Brandeis in the fourth minute. Junior defender Jordan Fitzgerald passed the ball to Blanchard, who took a shot from outside the box that went under the goalkeeper’s outstretched arms.
After the first goal, the Eagles were silent until 55th minute, when senior forward Shivani Beall dribbled down the left sideline and took a spectacular shot which curved around the keeper and banked into the net off the far post.
In the 64th minute, freshman forward Kylie Hall crossed the ball into the box, where it deflected off a Brandeis defender and into the back of the net for an own goal, putting the Eagles up 3-0. In the 78th minute, freshman midfielder LJ Kolodge finished a chip pass from Hall into the six-yard box.
The Eagles finished the game with a 15-11 advantage in shots, nine of their which were on target.
The match against NYU started off a bit slower for the Eagles than Friday’s match. Despite dominating the first half with 12 shots, compared to a mere two from NYU, Emory could not find the back of the net, resulting in a 0-0 tie at the end of the first half.
The Eagles struck first when junior midfielder Samantha Hilsee broke the scoreless tie in the 62nd minute, finishing a penalty kick after Beall was tripped from behind in the box.
In the 75th minute, Hall sent a ball to the top of the 18-yard box, where freshman forward Natalie Klar got through two defenders and found the back of the net with a shot to the top right corner.
With five minutes remaining, Hall placed a corner kick inside the six-yard box, which was tapped in by senior defender Paige Santee. The Eagles outshot NYU 17-6 and dominated them 9-2 in shots on goal.
With this win, the Eagles ended a streak of five straight 1-1 ties with NYU and extended a season-long five-game shutout streak. Hall credits the team’s recent scoring prowess to an increased focus on finishing shots in practice as the season has progressed.
“We have been working on a lot of shooting because towards the beginning [of the season] we had so many chances, and we should have been finishing more of them,” Hall said. “I think it has really helped, especially because we scored seven goals this weekend.”
The Eagles had put themselves into a difficult situation after losing four games early in the season, with two of those losses coming from critical UAA matchups. Emory needed to win both matches to stay in the running for a potential Division III NCAA tournament bid.
They’ve been able to do just that thanks to a total team effort according to Head Coach Sue Patberg.
“I am really proud of the team’s performance,” Patberg said. “They have accepted the challenge and risen to the occasion. It has been a full 30-player effort to get us where we are right now.”
Patberg later expressed that she was content with the Eagles’ current standing, but another win is essential.
“I feel good with being 12-4, but we need to be 13-4 and secure the bid,” Patberg said. “We need to give the NCAA every reason to take us into this tournament.”
The Eagles will play their final regular season game at home against the University of Rochester (N.Y.) on Nov. 9 at 11 a.m.
