Loyola women’s soccer played a series of close games last week, falling 1-0 to the University of Pennsylvania last Monday, before tying Lehigh University on Saturday.
The Greyhounds (4-8-2, 0-3-2 Patriot League) battled the Mountain Hawks (4-3-4, 2-0-3) at Ridley Athletic Complex Saturday night in an aggressive game that left both teams scoreless by the end of it.
From the beginning of the game it was clear that both teams were equally matched and were struggling to get the ball to the goal. While it appeared that Lehigh took offensive control in the first half, Loyola successfully held them off on the defensive end.
The ball spent a lot of time going back and forth across the field with both teams desperately wanting a goal and trying to make it happen. Senior goalkeeper Collen Folan had a very active role in the game; while there weren’t many shot attempts, the ball was consistently close to the goal in play. She recorded her sixth clean sheet shutout with this scoreless game.
Junior Rosy Hayes gave the Greyhounds one of the best scoring opportunities of the night with a shot that sent the ball flying from the top of the box, but Mountain Hawks goalkeeper Laura Courtney successfully blocked it.
Fellow junior Charlotte Miller also had a very active game, and set up a great play for the Hounds in the 58th minute with a flawless corner kick. Sophomore Nicole Wahlig headed the ball inches away from the goal. Sophomore Cara Connolly also contributed a solid effort controlling the ball.
While the game remained scoreless, the Hounds put in a solid effort throughout the whole entire game to break a four-game losing streak. Loyola lost each of those four games by a single goal.
Before they faced off against the Mountain Hawks, the Greyhounds played a series of road games the week before, including a game against the University of Pennsylvania at Rhodes Field in Philadelphia. While Folan did a solid job defending, the Quakers were able to get a shot tapped into the net at the very end of the first half.
Goal attempts were made by Wahlig and senior Gabrielle Tana that were very close, but ultimately the Hounds were held scoreless by the end of the game to make the final score 1-0. Folan made an impressive total of seven saves that game.
Loyola has not scored a goal in its past three contests.
The Greyhounds return to Ridley Athletic Complex on Saturday, Oct. 18 for Alumnae day. They host Patriot League foe Boston University at 2 p.m. in the first game of a doubleheader with the men’s team.