The women’s soccer team had a tough weekend, falling to the Ithaca College (N.Y.) Bombers 2-0 on Saturday before playing the Cortland State (N.Y.) Red Dragons to a 0-0 tie on Sunday. The Eagles are now 2-1-1 on the season.
The road trip to Ithaca was a battle of two undefeated, top-10 teams, with the Eagles coming into the match ranked second nationally and the Bombers chalking in at number nine.
The teams fought each other to a standstill early, with neither Emory nor Ithaca getting off a shot in the game’s first 10 minutes. The Eagles got to the goal first, but shots by seniors Kelly Costopoulos, Lauren Drosick, and Clare Mullins all missed the net.
The Bombers made the most of their first opportunity on goal, as sophomore midfielder Kelsey King took a pass from senior midfielder Meredith Jones and evaded three defenders en route to putting Ithaca up 1-0.
It looked like the half would end with the same score after a strong showing by both goalkeepers and defenses, but Ithaca’s Jess Demczar snuck in a goal with just over two minutes left in the half.
The freshman midfielder’s first goal of the season made it 2-0 at the intermission.
Sophomore goalkeeper Liz Arnold replaced junior starter Gabrielle Pelura in the second half and would not give up a goal the rest of the way, but the Eagles couldn’t get on the scoreboard against the Bombers’ defense.
It was a pretty even match on the statsheet. Both the Eagles and Bombers got off 11 shots, but while Ithaca had four shots on goal, the Emory managed only two.
The difference maker was Bombers sophomore goalkeeper Beth Coppolecchia, who kept the Eagles off the board with two saves.
Both Arnold and Pelura had a save for the Eagles, while Mullins, Costopoulos and freshman Emily Matis led the team with two shots apiece.
Calling it a rare loss for the team would be an understatement – it was just the second regular-season game the Eagles have dropped in the last three years, and the first to a non-conference opponent since 2009.
Emory had better fortunes against the Red Dragons but still failed to get on the scoreboard.
The defense, however, was spectacular once again, with Pelura and Arnold combining for their first shutout of the young season. The Eagles defense is allowing just 0.9 goals per game in 2013.
The Eagles peppered the Red Dragons’ goal with shots but couldn’t get anything past Cortland junior goalkeeper Taylor Hudson, who recorded six saves on the day.
Emory’s domination was apparent everywhere but the scoreboard. The Eagles finished with a 24-9 edge in shots, a 7-4 edge in shots on goal and a 9-2 edge in corner kicks but just couldn’t find the net. The game went into two overtime periods, but neither team was able to get a shot on goal in either one.
Junior forward Karina Rodriguez led the team with five shots, while Arnold turned in a strong performance in goal with four saves. Arnold has yet to pick up a loss on the season, posting a record of 1-0-1 with a tiny 0.41 goals-against average.
The Eagles will try to return to their winning ways against Lee University (Tenn.) this Friday at 6 p.m.
– By Ryan Smith
Photo by Christine Hines
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