Women’s soccer beats NYU 5–1 at home
The Carnegie Mellon women’s soccer team hosted two University Athletic Association (UAA) opponents last week. The Tartans defeated the New York University Violets 5–1 Friday, but couldn’t overcome two late scores by Brandeis University Sunday, and fell to the Judges 2–1. The Tartans now stand at 3–2–1 in UAA play.
First-year forward Valerie Corvino started off the scoring Friday in the 22nd minute of play. Corvino beat the Violets goalkeeper on a breakaway and was able to knock the ball in for her fifth goal on the year.
New York struck back and evened the score at 1–1 when sophomore defender Sarah Lensing scored from the top of the box off a pass from first-year midfielder Katie Gaston.
From this point on the Tartan seniors took control. Forward Kasey Stever chalked up her seventh and eighth goals of the season in the span of 10 minutes. Stever’s seventh goal came off a pass from Eleonore Valencia from 15 yards out at the right post.
Just nine minutes into the second half Stever struck again, this time with fellow senior Amanda Rose netting the assist.
Carnegie Mellon remained on the offensive as Rose would score just five minutes later on a free kick from nearly midfield. Midfielder Jessica Howard was the last of the three seniors to score when she put away her first goal of the season on a rebound off the goalkeeper into an empty net. First-year Adrienne Pajer assisted in the play.
“We played tight defense all night,” head coach Sue Willard said. “Our players came out determined and when they went out they each did their job early and well.”
It was a slightly different story Sunday when the Tartans hosted Brandeis University at Gesling Stadium. There were very few shots on goal early in the game, though Howard arched a shot from across the field and nearly 30 yards out that just cleared the top bar.
The Tartans finally managed to get on the board in the 40th minute when Stever continued her hot streak, scoring in her third consecutive game, as she took one touch to put the ball away after a missed header on a Howard pass gave Stever a clear path to the ball, which she squeezed perfectly between the post and goalie.
The defensive chess match continued as neither team was able to get anything going on offense until the 62nd minute, when Brandeis midfielder Jenna Lipawsky was able to score on a high hit near the far post that was just out of the reach of Tartan goalkeeper Anya Rosen.
Brandeis finished off the Tartans with the final goal of the day in the 86th minute when senior midfielder Tzlil Castel was left uncovered in the center of the goalie box and rifled a shot to the right post that Rosen wasn’t able to get her hands on.
“It was a tough game. We had big expectations going in, but we didn’t come together in the end,” junior defender Mary Ashe said. “It’s a setback, but these things happen and it doesn’t mean we’re out of anything yet. It’s important we put this behind us and not let it affect who we are as a team.”
On Saturday, the team will travel to Atlanta for their final game of the season against 11th-ranked Emory University.