Women’s soccer travels to Denison, draws 0–0
The final whistle blew in the 110th minute as the Carnegie Mellon women’s team drew the 21-ranked Denison University Big Red, 0–0, after double overtime on the road. Tartan sophomore goalkeeper Anya Rosen wowed the crowd with her acrobatic saves but more importantly, kept the Carnegie Mellon side in the game, as was the case in last year’s matchup against Denison in which the Tartans defeated the Big Red 1–0 at home. Rosen, the UAA Rookie of the Year last season, made six nail-biting saves Saturday to help shut out the opposition.
Rosen was first tested in the 21st minute when a Denison forward received the ball from the left flank into the middle of the field, she took it down and sent it sailing straight into the hands of the Tartan keeper. Moments later, Carnegie Mellon retaliated with a shot in the 27th minute but to no avail.
Denison struck another shot in the 44th minute and Rosen recorded a solid save but gave away a corner kick. After the restart, a few rebounds and shots between the two sides, the Big Red managed to get off a final shot, firing the ball through the Tartans defense and into Rosen’s hands to close out the first half 0–0.
The second half provided more scoring chances for Denison as in the 53rd minute, one of the forwards cranked a shot from the middle straight to Rosen who punched the ball over the cross bar for a corner. Seven minutes later, Denison received another corner kick and their best scoring opportunity when their captain Sarah Ashe rifled the ball from 8 yards out, forcing Rosen to dive across the goal face to make a huge save for Carnegie Mellon.
With only a few minutes to spare in regulation, Denison lofted a ball over the defense and sophomore Emily Overstreet made a remarkable save, clearing the ball off the line and heading it out of danger for a corner. To follow was a frantic battle of headers between both teams as they entered double overtime. Overtime was uneventful and the game remained scoreless.
“One thing that we definitely need to improve on is our individual and team intent and urgency to score,” head coach Sue Willard said. “Scoring goals is as much about mentality as it is about athletic ability.”
Denison had six corner kicks to Carnegie Mellon’s two, while the Tartans acquired 11 free kicks from fouls committed by the Big Red and only dished out four.
Despite the tie, substitutes proved to be valuable assets to Carnegie Mellon as first-year Kristin Suzich stepped onto the field with a revitalized energy, creating numerous scoring opportunities for the Tartans while first-year Ashley Baker held down the defensive line. Unlike years past, the Tartans have a rather deep bench and the large squad created much more competition within for playing time, but everyone proved to be deserving.
“I was happy about the renewed focus and effort by our team today, especially after the sub-par performance we had last weekend. Our play defensively was much stronger, which was especially impressive since we substituted quite liberally,” Willard said. “Anya Rosen also had an outstanding game in goal.”
The Tartans hit the road tomorrow to take on Allegheny College for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. The team will host Kenyon College this Saturday in Gesling Stadium at 6:00 p.m.