Tied at Half, Women’s Soccer Loses 4-0 to Washington & Jefferson
Despite going into halftime tied 0-0, the women’s soccer team would lose to Washington & Jefferson 4-0 on Tuesday, Oct. 11. With the loss, the Jackets dropped to 4-8-1 on the season and 1-3 in Presidents’ Athletic Conference play.
Junior defender Sam Nichols said the team reached the mindset they needed for the game.
“We definitely have the mentality that we need to come out and play a full 90 minutes, and I think we definitely held our own for W&J tonight,” said Nichols. “I’m definitely happy about how we left the game tonight.”
On the evening, Waynesburg only managed three shots over 90 minutes, including just one on goal.
One bright spot in the game for the Yellow Jackets was the success of the defense through the majority of the game, Nichols said.
“Our defense, we held our own tonight and probably shutting down two of the top, I’d say forwards in the PAC tonight,” she said. “Just definitely giving our midfield some credit too, so that definitely helps with our next few games coming on.”
Freshman goalkeeper Courtney Syfert played the entire game for the Yellow Jackets. As Syfert continues to receive game experience, head coach Laura Heethuis said her confidence will continue to build.
“[Syfert] continues to get better,” said Heethuis. “So as time goes on, she’ll continue to grow and get big.”
Leading up to the next few games, Nichols said the team would continue to work towards better teamwork, citing passing and communication as areas that need to be improved for the team.
“We’re still working on trying to play together as a team, because we’re still working with some younger girls and we’re still trying to get used to playing with each other because we all play differently,” said Nichols.
With just five conference games left in the schedule, wins start to become more important, according to Nichols, if the team wants to make the PAC playoffs.
“We’re definitely looking for some big wins coming up,” she said. “I think we’re all getting pretty frustrated, because we come out hard and then its usually near the end when we let up and it gets in our heads.”
From Heethuis’ perspective, she thinks that with a half week of rest, the team will be prepared for the next match.
“We are three games in [to conference play] with five to go,” said Heethuis. “I know if we can come out, heal our bodies, we’ll be ready to go.”
Looking ahead in the schedule, Waynesburg will compete against Geneva on Saturday, Oct. 15, on the road in a PAC matchup.