On September 23, 2026, the Women’s Soccer team went up in a hard-fought but overall fruitless battle against The College of New Jersey. Despite the final score being 0-0, the night was not a total bust for the Ducks, as they became the first team this season to hold the Lions without a single goal, leaving the Lions with their lowest number of shots on goal of the season.
Both teams went through the first half goalless, but they did have shots on goal attempts. Early in the game, we saw one from senior Molly McCann, but the TCNJ goalie kept the ball out. McCann showed up again in the 32nd minute with a shot on goal, but it was blocked yet again. The Lions also showed up with good attempts on goal, but sophomore goaltender Maria O’Brien produced save after save. Early in the second half, graduate student Alana Odom, the reigning MAC Freedom Offensive Player of the Year, attempted a shot that was seemingly the Ducks’ best chance for a goal that night. Along with that, late in the second half, O’Brien made her finest save of the night on a shot from 15 yards out.
The game ended with the Lions taking 16 shots and 5 shots on goal, while the Ducks took 10 shots and 3 shots on goal. After two halves of the Ducks and the Lions battling with much back-and-forth, the game ended at 0-0, which has happened at least once in each of the last three seasons. However, this game marked O’Brien’s second straight start where she set a career high of five saves. McCann, junior Taylor Truglia, and first-year Teagan Shay also all played for the full 90 minutes of the game.
We can see the Ducks face off against King’s College on October 3 at DeBaun Athletic Complex at 3 p.m.
