Women’s soccer travels and earns victory and first draw

The Carnegie Mellon women’s soccer team faced off against Baldwin Wallace College on Tuesday, Sept. 20. The Tartans defeated the home team Yellow Jackets 2–0 in a convincing victory.

Carnegie Mellon applied heavy pressure to their opponents from the start, putting seven shots on goal early in the game. Despite the Tartans’ aggression, the game remained scoreless until the 37th minute. First-year forward Sydney Webber assisted the goal with a corner kick, and from that corner kick first-year defender Camille Williams collected the ball and fired a hard shot that connected with the back of the net, earning her first career score and putting the Tartans up 1–0 and finally capitalizing on their aggression.

Not only were the Tartans aggressive on offense, but their stout defense prohibited the Yellow Jackets from getting anywhere near the goal. In the first 18 minutes of the game, sophomore goalkeeper Sarah Mahler made three saves and effectively shut down any further attempt to score by the home team.

The second and final goal of the game for the Tartans came in the 73rd minute, once again assisted by Webber. First-year forward Vayda Farino scored the first goal of her career off of Webber’s assist, and that goal would end up securing the win for the Tartans. Junior forward Haili Adams attempted a shot with less than a minute left in the game, but a defender got in the way and the shot was denied. Still the Tartans ended the game with two goals for themselves and a shut out for the other team, so they can be proud. This win marks Mahler's second shut out of the season, as well as her fourth win.

On Friday Sept. 23, the Tartans traveled to Ohio to battle John Carroll University. The teams fought hard, and the Tartans looked to be in control for the whole game, but the match ended in a 1–1 tie.

John Carroll struck first early in the game, putting a shot past Mahler in the 14th minute. This mistake did not deter the Tartans at all though. They kept pushing toward the opposing goal, even making four shots on goal in the first period only to be denied by the Blue Streaks goalkeeper.

The Tartans continued to send shots at the opposing goal, but nothing was connecting with the back of the net. The John Carroll goalkeeper denied another four shots before the Tartans finally tied the game with their first score in the 84th minute. Adams stepped up for the Tartans and fired a shot to the goal. It went past the John Carroll goalkeeper, a rare sight in this game, and the Tartans made the score 1–1.

The Tartans were persistent in their attack for the rest of the game, but the opposing goalkeeper would not let another score through. Junior midfielder Tori Iatarola made two attempts to score in the final two minutes of the game but neither was successful, and the teams went into overtime play.

In the overtime period, stellar goalkeeping by both teams kept the score at a standstill. Senior midfielder Delaney Lam and junior forward Sienna Stritter each made a shot on goal in overtime, but Lam’s shot was saved by the John Carroll goalkeeper and Stritter’s was blocked by a defender.

First-year goalkeeper Andrea Sipos earned the decision for the Tartans after she entered the game for Mahler in the 67th minute.

While they did not lose, the Tartans surely wanted more out of their performance. The opposing goalkeeper refused to let the Tartan offense get rolling and ended the game with 11 saves. This tie is the first of the season for the Tartans, but next week they will look to get a solid victory as they host University Athletic Association (UAA) opponent Brandeis University on Saturday, Oct. 1. The game is scheduled to start at 11 a.m.