Middlebury senior day 23Oct2021

Perhaps it was fortunate for parents that we didn’t get into Regionals - we were close, but instead of taking the usual 24 teams they took only 18 - because this was Parent’s Weekend! Parents of Carly, Rachel, Zanna, Julia and Abby and friends of many were there under sunny skies and 10+C/50+F temps. After enjoying our game two years ago, Middlebury today had enough players to have two simultaneous games and displayed improved quality after three years as a club/former JV team.

Advising to “do it for the seniors” - Carly Brown, Caroline Collins-Pisano, Sophia Greszczuk, Katie Reisman and Cate Rozelle - we looked as happy as ever to have a game today!

Lizzy got us started by earning and taking a corner kick and a free kick in the Middlebury third before her shot sailed over their cross-bar. Claire had her shot saved in the 7th minute before Julia’s went wide seven minutes later. 

After Sara earned a free kick, Rachel’s shot went over. Kalyn earned a corner in the 17th minute, resulting in Lana’s three corner kicks and Kate’s sweetly struck shot that was saved. 

Kalyn earned another corner taken by Lana. Kalā acrobatically got her foot on the ball and chipped it over their keeper, but the goal was disallowed because we had an extra player on the field.

Mudia had a shot go wide and then made a perfect cross to Eliza, whose attempt at a tap-in hit the upright. Ash had a shot go over before Lizzy had two shots saved and a third that hit the cross-bar. 

Kalyn and Abby had shots saved in the last minutes of the half before Julia earned a corner taken by Lizzy. During the break, we discussed following up shots that bounce back into play and continuing our good field-switching and give-and-go passing.

Eliza had a shot saved right away before Mudia earned a free kick in the Middlebury third taken by Ash. Then Sophia’s shot went wide.

Zanna earned a corner taken by Lana, and Kalā had a shot blocked. Mudia earned a corner taken by Ash, and Eliza had a shot go wide. Zanna earned another corner taken by Lana in the 49th minute. 

Abby had a shot go over the cross-bar before another player’s shot went wide. Lizzy had a shot saved and later took another corner kick. Julia had a shot saved and Lizzy took another corner. Mudia earned another corner that was taken by Ash in the 69th minute.

Ash set us up for great success with her shot saved in the 71st minute for three corners, resulting in Kalā’s goal on the third corner kick.

Middlebury had a free kick from their end-line before they got a shot on our goal that Caris saved in the 78th minute. Julia earned a corner taken by Nathalie before Kalyn and Abby had shots saved. 

After Middlebury’s free kick from mid-field, Julia earned a free kick taken by Claire and Abby took a corner in the last minute.

With almost 30 shots to their one, we well deserved the win, but it was perhaps more impressive to see our stepping to the ball, getting the ball away from Middlebury players, connected passes, switching the ball to the opposite side of the field and the individual moves we made to keep the ball and open up space for passing options!

The glorious day was capped by a lovely ceremony honoring the seniors and memorable chances for parents to admire their talented children!

G: Caris White

CD: Kalā Harman+Molly Knox, Rachel Horne

OD: Ash Mitcham+Lana Kanno, Kate Clark+Sara Pickrell

CM: Sophia Greszczuk+Claire Meli+Lizzy Strapp, Krista Schemitsch+Abby Burgess

OM: Eliza Durbin+Zanna Stutz, Kalyn Dawes+Nathalie Maffei

F: Mudia Ikoba, Julia Gottschalk

Shots 27:1  Saves 1:14

4 Lizzy earned and took a corner kick

5 Lizzy earned a free kick in their third, her shot over

7 Claire shot saved

14 Julia shot wide

16 Sara earned a free kick, Rachel’s shot over

17 Kalyn earned a corner taken by Lana three times

     Kate shot saved

19 Kalyn earned a corner taken by Lana

     Kalā scored with her foot but disallowed due to 12 players fielded

25 Mudia shot wide

27 Mudia cross to Eliza whose shot hit the upright 

     Ash shot over

28 Lizzy two shots saved, a third hit the cross-bar

34 Kalyn shot saved

38 Abby shot saved

40 Julia earned a corner taken by Lizzy

42 Eliza shot saved

44 Mudia earned a free kick in their third, taken by Ash

     Sophia shot wide

47 Zanna earned a corner taken by Lana

     Kalā shot blocked

48 Mudia earned a corner taken by Ash

     Eliza shot wide

49 Zanna earned a corner taken by Lana

52 Abby shot over, another player’s shot wide

54 Lizzy shot saved

59 Lizzy corner

61 Julia shot saved for a corner taken by Lizzy

69 Mudia earned taken by Ash

71 Ash shot saved for a corner taken by Ash three times

     Kalā scored again! ->1:0

74 Middlebury free kick from their end line

78 Middlebury shot saved

     Julia earned a corner taken by Nathalie

     Kalyn shot saved

     Abby shot saved

79 Middlebury free kick from the half

80 Julia earned a free kick taken by Claire from the half

     Abby corner

at MIT 16Oct2021

Our president, Caroline Collins-Pisano, had - last summer - arranged a game on Sunday October 17th with Northeastern as a way to continue our post-league division season - we preferred Saturday, but they had a conflict, so we agreed on Sunday. In late August Northeastern cancelled, and we were unable to find another team that would agree to come up that day, so we decided to consider traveling for an away game. Harvard invited us but then gave the date to BU, but Caroline found out only three days ago that MIT could host us.

Only eleven players were available, given the late notice, but Ash’s dad John Mitcham was here from Utah and wanted to see her play, so we were excited to play! Sophia’s parents also came to see our game under windy, partly cloudy skies and warm 20+C/70sF temperatures.

We spoke about turf being fast and the value of good passes and quick pressure.

Ash wasted no time getting off a shot in the first minute, followed by Caitlin seven minutes later. After MIT’s free kick in their third, Lizzy had her shot deflected for a corner taken by Ash, and Lizzy had another shot hit the upright.

After Caris saved an MIT shot, she distributed the ball perfectly to Mudia, whose shot rocketed into the MIT net. Ash and Caitlin had their shot saved five minutes later. Most of the action was in their third, while Caris communicated what she was seeing and our passes was quick and well connected.

Ash had two more shots saved in the last few minutes of the half.

We spoke during half time about making through balls more successful by using less force and about passing to feet and passing back to keep possession.

Caris saved an MIT rolling shot in the fifth minute before Ash made a wonderful cross from the left side to Caitlin on the right side - her powerful shot landed in the MIT net.

Sara earned a free kick in the middle of the field taken by Lana before MIT put a shot over our cross-bar and had a free kick from their third in the 55th minute. Their GK came out swiftly to squash Sophia’s chance a few minutes later, Lizzy earned and took a corner kick, Ash had a shot blocked and Mudia had a shot deflected.

We had a great amount of communication during this half, ending with Claire’s corner, Sophia’s blocked shot and Caris making another save from a cross/shot.

G: Caris White

CD: Lana Kanno+Sara Pickrell

OD: Aislinn Mitcham+Katie Reisman

CM: Sophia Greszczuk+Claire Meli+Lizzy Strapp

OM: Caitlin Evers+Julia Gottschalk

F: Mudia Ikoba

Shots 12:4   Saves 3:5

1 Ash shot wide

8 Caitlin shot wide

9 MIT free kick in their third 

12 Lizzy shot deflected for a corner taken by Ash

     Lizzy shot hit the upright

13 MIT shot saved by Caris who distributed to Mudia for her rocket-shot ->1:0

18 Ash shot saved, Caitlin shot saved

30 Ash shot saved

34 Ash shot saved

40 MIT rolling shot saved

     Ash cross from the right side to Caitlin on the left ->2:0

47 Sara earned a free kick from the half taken by Lana

51 MIT shot over

55 MIT free kick in their third

57 MIT GK out to squash Sophia’s chance

58 Lizzy earned a corner she took, Ash shot blocked, Mudia shot deflected

67 Claire corner, Sophia shot blocked

69 MIT cross/shot saved

UVM 9Oct2021

Delighted to welcome alumnae and parents - Molly’s parents from MD, Caitlin’s dad from CA, Ella’s mom from TN, Katie R’s parents, Katie Bernardez from Seattle, Meredith Srour from Duke Medical School, Jenna Salvay from San Francisco, Dani Black from NYC, Jenny Kane and Namya Malik (here for a masters degree in computer science) - we were excited to play our best with a team we usually find difficult to beat. 

The 15C/60F cloudy weather was perfect for soccer! 

Sophia gave a motivating pep-talk about playing our best, and we looked sprightly as Mudia got off a shot in the 2nd minute that went over their cross-bar. In the eighth minute, UVM made a goal with shot from the right side of the field into the left side of our net. 

After UVM had a free kick in their third, Lizzy’s free kick in the 16th minute was saved, and her shot four minutes later was saved, as was Eliza’s shot a minute later.

Caitlin blocked a UVM shot in the 26th minute, and Caris saved a UVM shot four minutes later. Julia, in an attempt to wrest the ball from UVM, was cautioned.

UVM made their second goal in same manner as their first, curling the ball into the lower left corner of our goal in the 34th minute. After UVM’s free kick from the half-line, Molly made a free kick from our third. In the last minute of the half, UVM had a shot go wide and awarded a free kick from the middle of the field. 

During the break, we discussed opening up more when we get the ball, making more dynamic runs and shorter passes, passing back when desired, closing the gap in the midfield and beating them by passing around them.

Kalyn showed her great energy and earned us a free kick in the 42nd minute that was taken by Kelly, then Sophia had a shot go wide before Kalyn’s shot went over their cross-bar. Caris squashed a UVM chance in front of our goal just before Julia earned a free kick that was taken by Claire. 

Claire made a beautiful free kick from 20 yd that was almost a goal but instead hit their cross-bar in the 44th minute. She made another free kick from 30 yd out before her corner kick earned by Julia in the 51st minute. Sophia’s ensuing shot was on target but saved. Sophia earned us a free kick just after that before UVM had a shot go wide. 

Sophia had s hot go over their cross-bar in the 55th minute before UVM had a free kick, two shots saved and one shot go wide. After Kalā saved a UVM shot for their corner in the 74th minute, Julia earned a free kick for us. 

Claire made another sweet free kick from 20 yd that again hit their cross-bar. After that, Kelly earned a free kick taken by Claire.

We played so well in the second half, with many scoring chances, so we couldn’t feel deflated. It was a very well played game and a great chance for friends and family to see our quality!

G: Caris White

CD: Molly Knox+Kalā Harman, Rachel Horne

OD: Katie Reisman+Kelly Rutherford, Sara Pickrell+Kate Clark

CM: Sophia Greszczuk+Claire Meli+Lana Kanno, Ella Steinhilber+Krista Schemitsch+Lizzy Strapp

OM: Aislinn Mitcham+Nathalie Maffei, Kalyn Dawes+Eliza Durbin, Caitlin Evers+Abby Burgess

F: Mudia Ikoba, Julia Gottschalk

Shots 10:10   Saves 6:4

2 Mudia shot over

8 UVM from right side of the field to left side of goal -> 0:1

12 UVM free kick from their third

16 Lizzy free kick saved

20 Lizzy shot saved

21 Eliza shot saved

26 Caitlin blocked a UVM shot

30 UVM shot saved

31 Julia cautioned

34 UVM from right side of the field to left corner of goal -> 0:2

35 UVM free kick from the half

36 Molly free kick from our third

39 UVM shot wide, free kick from half

42 Kalyn earned a free kick in their third taken by Kelly

     Sophia shot wide

43 Kalyn shot over

     Caris squashed a UVM chance

44 Julia earned a free kick taken by Claire

     Claire free kick from 20 yd hit the cross-bar

49 Claire free kick fro 30 yd

51 Julia earned corner taken by Claire

    Sophia shot saved

52 Sophia earned free kick from half

53 UVM shot wide

55 Sophia shot over

57 UVM free kick from half

60 UVM shot saved

61 UVM shot saved

70 UVM shot wide

74 Kalā saved a shot for a UVM corner 

     Julia earned a free kick from half

78 Claire free kick from 20 yd hit the cross-bar

80 Kelly earned free kick taken by Claire

UMass A 3Oct2021

 Having played the other UMass (B) team to a draw last Saturday, we braced ourselves for today’s match with UMass A, telling ourselves to bring our best soccer to them using our 3-center midfielder formation. The drizzle let up just in time, and ~15C/60F temperatures were perfect. 

At first, neither team could hold the ball very long. After UMass got a corner kick in the 3rd minute and a free kick from their third, Claire took a free kick.

Just after Katie Fearon took a free kick earned by Julia, Katie set up Julia for her shot to the upper left side of their goal in the 15th minute. Then Kelly earned a free kick and Ella fired a shot that sailed over their cross-bar.

Kalā got aggressively tackled, and Molly took the ensuing free kick in the 22nd minute. Five minutes later, Lizzy earned a free kick before Caris came up big to save a shot that ricocheted toward our goal.

Rachel blocked a shot for a UMass corner in the 30th minute before Abby set up Mudia for her shot that was blocked. Just before the end of the half, Zanna took a free kick.

We spoke about well we improved during the first half, with better passing and sending the ball back to switch sides, and pushing up the midfield to close the gap.

Kalā cleared a UMass free kick and UMass had a shot go wide of our goal. Kalā earned a free kick before Ais took a corner kick in the 45th minute. Kelly took a free kick and Mudia’s solid shot went over their cross-bar. After UMass’ free kick, Caris came out quickly to squash a shot and was given a yellow card for dissent. UMass converted their penalty kick to even the score. 

Zanna’s shot was saved in the 53rd minute before Julia’s shot was blocked and she earned a free kick that was taken by Katie F. Ella’s shot went over their cross-bar before Molly’s clearance resulted in a corner for UMass.

Nathalie had a great shot saved in the 60th minute before Caris smothered a UMass chance. Nathalie had a subsequent shot blocked, earning a corner for Katie F, whose shot in the 65th minute was blocked for a corner taken by Nathalie. Ella’s shot went over their cross-bar. It felt as if we were close to scoring again.

Ella had another shot saved in the 69th minute before she fired a rocket-shot into their net to give us the lead in the 70th minute.

After UMass put a shot over our cross-bar, Caitlin had her shot go over their cross-bar and earned a free kick for Sara to take; in the last minute of the game Caitlin put her shot from the right side of the field into the upper left corner of their net to put us two goals ahead.

We felt that it was our best playing - we won possession and kept it with passes that connected, kept the ball moving by seeing the next pass and we created many good scoring opportunities - the refs and even their keeper complimented our playing! 

G Caris White

CD Kalā Harman+Molly Knox, Rachel Horne

OD Kelly Rutherford+Katie Reisman, Kate Clark+Sara Pickrell

CM Claire Meli+Sophia Greszczuk+Lana Kanno, Ella Steinhilber+Krista Schemitsch+Katie Fearon, Abby Burgess+Alison Sasaki+Lizzy Strapp

F Aislinn Mitcham+Mudia Ikoba, Kalyn Dawes+Julia Gottschalk+Nathalie Maffei, Caitlin Evers+Eliza Durbin

Shots 15:6  Saves 3:7

Assumption 26Sep2021

Since we traveled to Worcester for our game with Assumption two years ago, they agreed to visit us this fall. Sunny and comfortably warm, Sachem field offered a perfect soccer day, complete with fans, including Katie Reisman’s and Sophia Greszczuk’s parents, Abby and Kalyn’s (student) booster club (!!), and perhaps others?

We spoke before the game about trying to make more diagonal runs and passes.

Claire got off our first shot (saved) in the second minute, then Zanna chipped their keeper a minute later for our first goal. Then Zanna had a shot go wide before Lizzy earned two corners and had  shot go wide.

After Zanna’s shot overmtheir cross-bar in the 7th minute, Mudia had a shot saved for a corner taken by Zanna; Caitlin was there to head in the ball, but their keeper saved it. After an Assumption free kick, Kalā made a wonderful field-length dribble and almost scored with a barely-wide shot.

Alison had a shot go over in the 14th minute before we almost scored on a scramble in front of their net. Then Alison placed a powerful shot just left of center for our second goal in the 19th minute.

Only a minute later, our corner bounced odd their keeper into their net. Then Zanna had her shot go barely wide and Alison had a shot go over their cross-bar.

Abby rocketed a shot into their net in the 26th minute before Assumption sent a long pass over our defense for their forward to slot her rolling shot into our net.

Nathalie made a perfect cross for Kalyn to tap in, but it was saved in the 30th minute; Alison had a shot go over. Abby’s shot was saved for a corner, and our shot was blocked.

Nathalie had a shot go over in the 32nd minute, then immediately afterward Kalā set up Kalyn’s shot that bounced out for Zanna to fire into their net. After an Assumption free kick, Kalā had a shot saved forma corner taken by Lana.

Nathalie and Kalyn both scored in the next two minutes to finish the half.

We discussed making more diagonal passes and continuing to play our usual good-passing game. 

After Mudia’s shot was saved, she dribbled down the right side of the field and then cut inside her defender - a wonderful move to give her time and space to make a cross that Zanna allowed to pass her (dummy-pass) so that Lizzy could tap it in.

Sophia had two shot saved before Lizzy selflessly sent the ball to Mudia so she could score in the 43rd minute. Seconds later, Mudia made another cross for Sophia to tap in. After Assumption’s corner kick Caitlin set up Abby for our 11th goal, then she did the same for Lizzy whose shot went wide. Lizzy returned the favor and sent Caitlin a cross, whose shot went wide.

During this period, we were making more use of diagonal passes!

Mudia scored another beautiful goal with a shot over their keeper in the 53rd minute before Kalyn earned a free kick for Lana to take, Nathalie had a shot blocked, Alison had a shot saved, Mudia had a shot go over and Caitlin earned another corner kick.

In the 66th minute, Nathalie via Kalyn set up Lizzy for her second goal, Alison’s shot went wide, Sophia earned two corner kicks for Lizzy, Katie earned a free kick for Abby, and Kelly saved an Assumption free kick before Kate’s long distance (30m) goal a minute before the whistle blew to end our game.

Nine of our players scored! We were happy with our style of play, and are eager to see what we can do with UMass A and UVM in our last two division league games!

G Kelly Rutherford

CD Kalā Harman+Molly Knox, Claire Meli+Lana Kanno

OD Lana+Katie Reisman, Kate Clark

CM Sophia Greszczuk+Claire Meli, Alison Sasaki+Abby Burgess

OM Caitlin Evers+Lizzy Strapp, Nathalie Maffei

F Mudia Ikoba+Zanna Stutz, Kalyn Dawes

Shots 38:2  Saves 1:13

2 Claire shot saved

3 Zanna’s chip shot over their GK -> 1:0

4 Zanna shot wide

5 Lizzy earned 2 corners, shot wide

7 Zanna shot over

9 Mudia shot saved for a corner taken by Zanna

   Caitlin’s header saved

11 Assumption free kick from mid-field

12 Kalā field-long dribble, shot barely wide

14 Alison shot over

18 scramble in front of the Assumption goal, Dartmouth shot saved

19 Alison line-drive left of center -> 2:0

20 Dartmouth corner scored after hitting their GK (OG) -> 3:0

24 Zanna shot hit outer side netting, just wide

25 Alison shot over

26 Abby’s rocket shot -> 4:0

27 Assumption counter-attack long-ball pass in behind us -> 4:1

30 Nathalie beautiful cross for Kalyn to tap in saved

31 Abby shot saved for a corner, our shot blocked

32 Nathalie shot over, Kalā set up Kalyn’s shot (blocked), 

     Zanna got the rebound -> 5:1

35 Assumption free kick

36 Kalā shot saved for corner taken by Lana

37 Nathalie -> 6:1

38 Kalyn shot to upper left -> 7:1

39 Mudia shot saved

40 Mudia dribble right side, cut inside, cross to Lizzy (Zanna dummy) tap in -> 8:1

41 Sophia two shots saved

43 Lizzy unselfish pass to Mudia -> 9:1

     Mudia cross to Sophia tap-in -> 10:1

45 Assumption corner off a deflection 

46 Caitlin to Abby -> 11:1

49 Caitlin to Lizzy shot wide

     Lizzy cross to Caitlin shot wide

53 Mudia from the right side rocket over their GK -> 12:1

54 Kalyn earned free kick taken by Lana

55 Nathalie shot blocked

56 Alison shot saved, Mudia shot over

58 Caitlin earned a corner

66 Nathalie to Kalyn to Lizzy -> 13:1

67 Alison shot wide

68 Sophia earned corner taken by Lizzy

    Katie earned free kick taken by Abby

69 Sophia earned a corner taken by Lizzy

71 Assumption free kick in our third saved by Kelly

73 Kate from 30m out -> 14:1

74 Claire free kick

At UMass B 25Sep2021

We returned to Amherst to play UMass B “Minutewomen” after two years, but instead of playing on grass as we did last time we found them on a new turf field behind the (American) football stadium. Turf is abrasive on bodies and about 10 degrees F warmer, so we prefer grass. It was sunny and 75+F/25+C but felt much warmer. 

Fans came! Caitlin Evers’ dad who extremely helpfully fetched water for the players at half-time, Katie Reisman’s parents who brought cookies, Lizzy Strapp’s mom, Kalā’s cousin, perhaps others.

We decided to use the 4-5-1 formation we tried last Sunday, with three center-midfielders and two wing players. With 18 players we were able to sub the mid-field, forward target player and outside backs. We spoke about keeping the ball moving to keep possession and avoid tackles.

After a spell of high-pressure, Nathalie got off our first shot on the 15th minute. Kelly, having her first game in goal since high school, made a huge save from a UMass free kick. After Kate’s excellent corner kick, Eliza had her shot go over the cross-bar.

Kalyn had her shot saved for a corner well taken by Aislinn in the 28th minute, and just after that Caitlin’s shot went wide. Kalyn came up with a huge opportunity in the 30th minute when she wrestled the ball away from a UMass player and fed it to Mudia for her rocket-shot to the right upper-90.

After Lizzy drew a free kick taken by Kalā, UMass in the last minute of the half on a breakaway counter-attack rolled the ball into the right side of our net. 

At the break, players made great suggestions: find feet with ground passes in the midfield, move together as a team, don’t kick and run as UMass was doing, switch the ball to the opposite side to use more width.

After Sara’s shot wide, Zanna had one go over before UMass got a free kick and put a shot over our cross-bar. Julia earned a free kick taken by Kate just before Kelly made another huge save on a UMass shot in the 59th minute.

Kate had a shot go over their cross-bar, and Caitlin had hers go wide before UMass launched another counter-attack that ended with their shot going over. The last few minutes were all in the UMass third, with our four corner kicks, great passes and Zanna’s clinic on cuts to open up space.

It was clear we played really well and were the better team with more shots and scoring opportunities, so the score didn’t tell the whole story. The division rankings show us tied in points with them, so we are eager to see what we can do with the other UMass team and UVM!

G Kelly Rutherford 

CD Kalā Harman+Molly Knox, Rachel Horne

OD Aislinn Mitcham+Katie Reisman, Sara Pickrell+Kate Clark, Rachel

CM Kalyn Dawes+Lizzy Strapp+Krista Schemitsch, Abby Burgess, Eliza Durbin

OM Caitlin Evers+Zanna Stutz, Nathalie Maffei

F Mudia Ikoba, Julia Gottschalk

Shots 9:5  Saves 2:2

15 Nathalie shot saved

17 UMass free kick, Kelly save

19 Dartmouth corner taken by Kate

25 Eliza shot over

28 Kalyn shot saved for a corner taken by Aislinn

     Caitlin shot wide

30 Kalyn wrestled the ball away from UMass, 

     set up Mudia’s rocket upper right 90 -> 1:0

38 Lizzy drew a free kick taken by Kalā

40 UMass counter-attack grounder shot -> 1:1

46 Sara shot wide

51 Zanna shot over

55 UMass free kick, shot over

56 Julia earned free kick taken by Kate

59 UMass corner, shot saved by Kelly

64 Kate shot over, Caitlin shot wide

68 UMass counter-attack, shot over

72 Kate won and took two more corners, Ais took a 3rd

77 UMass free kick in their third

79 Julia earned a corner

At WPI and Holy Cross 19Sep2021

 Our first games after selecting 12 new players a few days ago, we found Worcester bathed in sunshine and balmy 70+F/20+C! Today’s fans included Sophia’s parents from Stow, MA, who brought cider, donuts and apples, Lizzy’s parents from CT, Claire’s mom, and Abby’s parents from Boston. Our club president, Caroline Collins-Pisano, had arranged for us to play both WPI and Holy Cross today since they are both in Worcester.

We warmed up on a corner of the turf field above a parking garage at 1pm, and we remembered how physical and pressuring WPI has been in the past. So the advice was not to hold the ball very long, to have fun and “smile at least once”, per Mudia.

Most of the play was in WPI’s half, and Lizzy wasted no time in getting off the first shot. Mudia followed that 10 minutes before Julia was able to sail the ball over their keeper for our first goal. 

WPI got a shot off in the 34th minute, but it was wide. Lizzy and Kelly had several corner kicks, Kelly had a shot go over the cross-bar and Kalyn had a shot go wide.

In the second half, Mudia and Kalyn had shots go wide and saved before Julia had two saved and one wide. There was a goal disallowed when their keeper couldn’t hold onto the ball but seemed to be injured somehow as we put it in their net. She was replaced and WPI retained possession of the ball. 

Julia made the best of a scramble in front of their goal and scored a very opportunistic second goal - a brace, as they say. Mudia and Abby had shots prevented late in the game.

At Holy Cross, we were impressed by how well they pressed us and created the first chance, which Caris squashed handily. Kalyn’s shot in the 10th minute was saved for a corner taken by Ella, and Eliza had a shot saved.

After Zanna’s shot went wide in the 24th minute, Caris made another save before Eliza and Julia had shots saved. Immediately after that, in the 37th minute, Ella fired an extremely powerful and unstoppable shot that gave us the lead. Holy Cross had a shot go wide just before half-time.

Caris made a wonderful suggestion to change our formation to 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 with three center-midfielders and wingers that help in midfield as well, based on how flat our structure looked her. It worked really well, and the players responded very well to it!

After Claire got a shot off, Alison scored our second goal in the 58th minute. Caris made another heroic save by coming out strongly to squash another shot for a corner. In the 70th minute, Mudia set up Zanna for our third goal. Our passing had improved as the game progressed! Near the end of the game we had 4 corner kicks when, Caitlin and Ella had shots saved.

It was a joyous time for us to be playing again and to play so well without much preparation!

G Caris White
CD Kalā Harman+Molly Knox
OD Aislin Mitcham+Katie Reisman, Kate Clark+Sara Pickrell, Kelly Rutherford
CM Sophia Greszczuk+Claire Meli, Abby Burgess+Alison Sasaki, Ella Steinhilber

OM Kelly Rutherford+Lizzy Strapp, Eliza Durbin, Kalyn Dawes, Nathalie Maffei

F Mudia Ikoba+Zanna Stutz, Julia Gottschalk+Caitlin Evers, Kalyn Dawes, Nathalie Maffei

At WPI

Shots 13:1

6 Lizzy shot wide

7 Mudia shot over 

17 Julia chipped their keeper -> 1:0

21 D corner

34 WPI shot wide

38 Lizzy corner

     Kelly corner headed out

40 Lizzy corner, Kelly shot over

     Kalyn shot wide

43 Mudia shot wide

51 Ais corner

54 Kalyn shot saved

64 Julia shot saved

66 Julia shot wide

68 Julia shot saved

69 Lizzy corner

70 Julia scored -> 2:0

72 Lizzy corner

78 Mudia shot blocked

79 Abby shot saved

At Holy Cross

Shots 11:4

9 Caris came to block a shot

10 Kalyn shot saved for a corner taken by Ella

19 Eliza shot saved

24 Zanna shot wide

25 Caris saved another shot

27 Eliza shot saved

30 Claire free kick

36 Julia shot saved

37 Ella rocket-shot -> 1:0

40 Holy Cross shot wide

44 D corner

51 Claire shot wide 

58 Alison scored -> 2:0

59 Caris huge save coming out strongly

65 Holy Cross corner

70 Mudia assisted Zanna’s goal -> 3:0

75 D corner

76 Caitlin shot saved for a corner

78 Ella shot saved for a corner taken by Zanna

   two more D corners

Middlebury 26oct2019

We had originally hoped to play Middlebury during the week early in October, as we had for many years, but when they were discontinued as a JV team (as we were in 2006), we encouraged them to come on their own. We planned today as a backup in case we didn't go to Regionals (we had 13 players ready to go but felt that we would need at least one more than that to go, and staying home allowed us to have almost everyone at our game).

Katie Bernardez's dad and TDX fraternity brothers were here (he said they were celebrating TDX's 150th year!) and Katie Fearon's mother and high-school sophomore sister, and many other fans to help celebrate the seniors (with a wonderful ceremony before the game) for whom this is their last fall game under partly sunny skies around 10C/50F.

After Middlebury's free kick from half-field, Meredith had a shot from the left side of the field go barely wide. Caris came out boldly to grab the ball off the foot of a Middlebury attacker in the 16th minute (she drove all the way from New Haven where she was visiting family just for our game!!).

Katie F took a look before passing the ball to Zanna, who put the ball into the lower-left side of Middlebury's net in the 19th minute. Then Dani, Sophia and Namya had shots over or wide.

After Aislinn's corner kick, Middlebury had one, too, and then a shot go wide of our net. Then Namya and Jenna had shots saved, and Middlebury had another free kick from half-field. Just before the end of the half, Namya earned corner kicks taken by Sarah twice before Katie F's shot was saved and Jenna's shot went wide.

During the break we spoke about not playing down to Middlebury's level (even though they played much better than the last couple of years), continuing to use give-and-go passes and making shorter passes in order to maintain possession.

Caris made a huge save by saving Middlebury's powerful shot in the 43rd minute. Then Lana's shot was saved before Katie F's saved shot rebounded to Zanna, who got us our 2nd goal in the 45th minute.

Sarah got two more corner kicks and a shot go over their crossbar after Middlebury had a shot go wide. In the 55th minute, Middlebury's corner kick found the head of one of their players for a solid placement into the left side of our net.

Only a minute later, Sarah found the lower-left near-post side of their net. Then after Zanna's shot went wide, Katie F made a cross from the left side that Ella almost was able to slide into their net from the right side, but it went just wide into the side netting.

Aislinn and Sarah had shots go wide before Sarah's free kick from 30 yd. Katie F and Namya had shots saved, and Sarah had one go over their crossbar in the last few minutes.

We were lucky Middlebury were able to come!

G: Kelly Rutherford, Caris White
CD: Katie Bernardez+Molly Knox, Kalā Harman
OD: Aislin Mitcham+Katie Reisman, Kelly Rutherford
CM: Sophia Greszczuk+Claire Meli, Ella Steinhilber+Lana Kanno
OM: Jenna Salvay+Meredith Srour, Aislinn Mitcham
F: Namya Malik+Sarah Abramowitz, Dani Black+Zanna Stutz

Shots 21:5  Saves 3:7

2 Middlebury free kick from half field
15 Meredith's shot just wide
16 Caris came out to grab the ball off a Middlebury attacker
19 Katie F's cross found Zanna, goal lower left 1:0
21 Dani's shot over the crossbar
22 Sophia's shot wide
25 Namya's shot wide
27 Aislinn's corner kick
29 Middlebury corner kick
29 Middlebury shot wide
30 Namya's and Jenna's shots saved
31 Middlebury free kick from half field saved
34 Namya earned a corner kick taken by Sarah (2x)
35 Katie F's shot saved
35 Jenna's shot wide
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43 Caris saved a Middlebury power shot for a corner
44 Lana's shot saved
45 Katie F's shot saved, Zanna got the rebound 2:0
47 Middlebury shot wide
50 Sarah corner kick
51 Sarah corner kick
52 Sarah's shot over
55 Middlebury corner, header from right to left side 2:1
56 Sarah's shot to lower left near post 3:1
59 Zanna's shot wide
60 Katie F's cross to Ella - shot wide
61 Aislinn's shot wide
64 Sarah's shot wide
64 Sarah's free kick from 30 yd
66 Katie F's shot saved
67 Zanna's shot over
70 Namya's shot saved

Amherst at UMass 6oct2019

Amherst has had trouble in the past finding enough players, so they were not a required game for us but agreed to play after our game with UMass A. It's a very small college but very popular and therefore difficult to get into. They appeared not to have many, if any, substitutes, so we agreed to play 30-minute halves instead of 35's.

We were down a player with Jenny's hurt knee, but we still had four subs. Captain Katie B's great advice was to shake off our former experience with UMass A and just have as much fun as possible. One result of that was witnessing central defenders Katie B and Molly in front of the Amherst goal -- even scoring!

Their keeper did startling well, saving shots by Jordan, Jenna and Zanna, who also saw several of hers go wide or over their crossbar.

Aislinn put two power shots from the left side just barely wide in the 15th and 17th minutes before Mudia's shot was deflected for a corner.

Lana opened our scoring in the 19th minute with a shot from the left side to the lower-right side of the Amherst net. A minute later, Aislinn set up Jenna for our second goal.

After another of Jordan's shots was saved, Jenna earned a corner and Claire had a shot go wide. Then in the 26th minute Aislinn made a beautiful spinning turn and shot the ball into their net for our third goal.

Kalā showed her quality a minute later with a high, arching ball that sailed over the keeper's head into their net. Mudia's shot went over before Zanna's corner kick and Kalā's shot saved just before halftime.

Jordan had the first shot of the second half saved before Zanna's corner. Jenna had another shot barely go wide before Aislinn sent in another perfect shot from the left side of the field that entered the upper-right corner of their net for our 5th goal in the 34th minute.

Only a minute later Jordan scored with a perfect shot from the left side of the field very near the end-line (at a very acute angle) into the right side-netting for our 6th goal.

Ella had a shot saved and had a corner kick before Jenna's shot went wide. In the 40th minute Zanna earned a free kick, Jordan's shot was saved but Kalā put the rebound into the Amherst net for our 7th goal.

Mudia had a shot saved before she got our 8th goal in the 42nd minute, and she had another shot saved after Kalā had a shot go wide.

Molly went on a superb dribbling spree, sailing all the way up the field and having her shot saved before Sophia converted in the 48th minute for our 9th goal. 

Katie B made her way to the front of the field, too, having her first shot saved but her second enter the lower-left side of the Amherst net in the 50th minute. 

Zanna had shots saved and go over before Ella scored from the left side of the field with a shot into the upper-right side of their net for our 11th goal in the 53rd minute. 

Mudia had a shot saved and Ella had a shot go over the crossbar before Zanna's corner and shot wide.

Molly made another surge upfield and scored in the lower-right side of their net for our 12th goal, and Zanna did the same in the 60th minute to bring us to 13 goals.

It was a relaxing way to end an otherwise unsavory day!

G: Bri Lowe, Caris White
CD: Katie Bernardez+Molly Knox, Kalā Harman
OD: Lana Kanno+Katie Reisman
CM: Sophia Greszczuk+Claire Meli 
OM: Jenna Salvay+Ella Steinhilber, Aislinn Mitcham
F: Jordan Isaacs+Zanna, Mudia Ikoba

Shots 46:0 Saves 0:17

2 Jordan's shot saved
3 Zanna's header wide
4 Jordan's shot saved
4 Zanna's shot wide
5 Zanna earned a free kick that she took -- it went over
6 Jordan's shot saved
7 Jenna's shot saved
7 Zanna's shot over
8 Zanna's shot saved
10 Jordan's shot saved
11 Zanna's shot over
12 Zanna's corner kick
15 Aislinn's shot barely wide
17 Aislinn's shot barely wide again
18 Mudia's shot deflected for a corner taken by Aislinn
19 Lana's shot from left to lower-right side of goal 1:0
20 Aislinn set up Jenna's shot 2:0
21 Jordan's shot saved
22 Jenna earned a corner
25 Claire's shot wide
26 Aislinn's wonderful spin and shoot 3:0
27 Kalā's beautiful arching ball over their keeper 4:0
29 Mudia's shot over
30 Zanna earned a corner and took it
30 Kalā's shot saved
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31 Jordan's shot saved
32 Zanna earned+took a corner
33 Jenna's shot barely wide
34 Aislinn's power shot from 30+yd left side to upper-right 5:0
35 Jordan from the left side to upper-right side netting at an acute angle 6:0
36 Ella's shot saved
37 Ella corner kick
38 Jenna's shot wide
40 Zanna earned a free kick
40 Jordan's shot saved, Kalā got the rebound 7:0
41 Mudia's shot saved
42 Mudia's shot went in 8:0
43 Kalā's shot wide
44 Mudia's shot saved
45 Molly's shot saved
48 Sophia scored 9:0
50 Katie B's first shot saved, second went lower-left 10:0
52 Zanna's shot saved, another over
53 Ella's shot from left to upper-right 11:0
54 Mudia's shot saved
54 Ella's shot over
55 Zanna earned+took a corner
57 Zanna's shot wide
58 Molly's shot lower-right 12:0
60 Zanna's shot lower-right 13:0