The Stevens women’s soccer team has had a slow start to the season, with the two most recent games being hard-fought losses against The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) and Montclair State University. This past Tuesday, the team won their first game after shutting out Farmingdale State in a non-conference match-up.
On September 20, the Ducks traveled to No. 20 ranked TCNJ to compete in a non-conference match, where they ultimately lost the match with a score of 0-4. This match brought the team’s record to 0-4-2. This game was decided by TCNJ’s strong offensive plays. They started off strong and added their first shot, one that hit the post, only 37 seconds into the game. They pushed this momentum throughout the game, and scored their first goal in the 14th minute of the game. They continued this drive throughout the first half and scored two more goals to have a 3-0 lead going into the second half. In the second half, Stevens made some noise against TCNJ when senior Claire Ganley took a shot which unfortunately hit the crossbar. Shortly after this, TCNJ would answer this with a fourth and final goal against the Ducks. On the defensive end, sophomore goalkeeper Kenny Donley made two saves and senior goalkeeper Dana Perry made one save.
After this loss, the Ducks traveled to No. 11 ranked Montclair State University on Sunday where they ultimately lost the non-conference game 0-2. This is the second straight game where the Ducks have not found the back of the net. This loss also ended the women’s soccer program’s three game winning streak against Montclair State University. In the first half, graduate student Rachel Rouse, senior Elsa Bley, and junior Abby Harris each took the opportunity to try a shot on goal, but none of them landed inside. At halftime, the score remained at 0-0. However, only minutes into the second half, Montclair was able to score two goals in three minutes. To answer, Harris attempted another shot on goal, which was blocked by Montclair’s goalkeeper. Montclair kept their offensive momentum going and held the match at 2-0 for the remainder of the game. However, the Duck’s defense was worth noting, with Donley making seven saves as goalkeeper.
The team played Farmingdale State College on Tuesday, September 26. Against Farmingdale State, Stevens has won ten games and two of the most recent matches between them. The team was able to add to the total of games won against Farmingdale, and shut out the team at a margin of 3-0. Senior Amelia Rehrig scored two of the goals while senior Nina Burden added the third, which was more goals than the team had scored all season prior to this game.
Women’s Soccer’s next game will be an away game against FDU-Florham on Saturday, September 30. The team won their last game against FDU-Florham (4-1) on October 4, 2022.
