Coming off of a Germany-Brazil-like rout over North Central last week by a score of 7–0, the Maroons looked to strike again this past Saturday as they took on the Tartans of Carnegie Mellon University.
The Maroons (9–2) were not able to take down their conference foes as the home squad dropped a hard-fought opening UAA match by a score of 2–1. In doing so, the No. 12 South Siders record dropped to 9–2, while the No. 4–ranked Tartans saw their record improve to 9–0.
“Coming off of that Carnegie loss, we realize that every UAA game is a 90-minute battle. As teammates, we have to up the competitiveness of practice drills to prepare each other,” said second-year defender Bailey Sayin.
The match itself began quickly, as Carnegie Mellon was able to score in the 11th minute. Only 11 minutes later, the Tartans doubled their lead.
While the Tartans entered the half with a 2–0 lead, the scorebooks of the first half painted the picture of Maroon domination. In particular, the South Siders were able to outshoot their opponents by a total of 7–5. Unfortunately, as the first half score indicates, none of those were able to find the back of the net.
Entering the second half, the Maroons looked to not only maintain the pace and attack they established in the first half, but also to make some defensive adjustments, as head coach Amy Reifert inserted fourth-year Mallory Morse in at goalkeeper for the second half.
While the Maroons were able to get some offensive runs going during the second half, they were unable to find the elusive net until the 83rd minute, when first-year forward Mia Calamari delivered a streaking corner that deflected off the hands of Carnegie keeper Katie Liston. Before Liston could adjust, third-year midfielder Naomi Pacalin was able to get a foot on the ball and deliver a laser to the top left corner of the net.
With their deficit halved, the Maroons increased the offensive pressure against the Tartans, but were unable to even up the score as they eventually dropped the hard-fought match, 2–1. While the Maroons lost, they were still able to outshoot the Tartans by a total of 13–12.
With that in mind, the Maroons can draw positives from their loss and look ahead to their next UAA match: No. 5 Emory next Saturday.
“We have to start the match a lot more prepared to battle and play physical. Emory is a tough team, and we need to be ready from the initial whistle,” said third-year forward Mary Bittner.
“We have to overlook the result and continue focusing on our big games in the future. Between Wheaton and the UAA games, there is no time to dwell on past losses,” Bittner said.
With Emory in their sights, the No. 12 Maroons will travel to Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, this Saturday as they look to take the Eagles on their home turf.
