Tears were shed and hugs were plentiful during Senior Night at the Loyola vs. Colgate soccer game on Oct. 21. Nine seniors – Maddie Boccio, Jamie Borden, Cara Connolly, Morgan Crable, Emily Lung, Kayla Roundsman, Jess Soldiviero, Kelsey Targarona, and Nicole Wahlig — were honored for their constant hard work and dedication to a team over the last four years. Despite the day of celebration, Loyola fell to Colgate on Senior Day 2-1.

Proud parents escorted their daughters out onto the field before the start of the game, and they made their presence known until the end. Silence never crept upon the parents of the players, and there were constant rebuttals with the calls, or rather a lack of calls, given out by the referees. Hand balls were missed and fouls went unseen. It seems like the refs were watching a different game.

While the parents and fans were battling for the lady hounds in the stands, sophmore forward Jourdan Ziff flew down the left side of the field to meet head to head with three defenders outside the 18th line and finished with a powerful shot that lead the ball to the back of the next. The goal for Ziff for this was her fourth goal of the season.

In the second half, Colgate came back with two goals, putting themselves in the lead. Colgate scored in the 71st and 77th minutes to take the final lead change of the game. Colgate’s goals were scored by freshman forward Abby Sotomayor and senior forward Sophi Lederer, respectively. However, not a lot of help was given to Loyola, as the refs missed many calls in the second half.

Wholehearted fans did their best to assist the refs by politely giving their input, but the refs soon retaliated. A Loyola assistant coach was given a yellow card for defending one of his players for a faulty penalty kick. While the refs were not on our side, parents and fans were still proud to see the team never gave up. Nothing is worth fighting for unless full effort is out into it.

With the loss, Loyola now needs to win its final game of the season and get some help in other games to qualify for the six-team Patriot league tournament. So far five spots have been clinched, while Army, Holy Cross, and Loyola are in contention for the last opening. Army and Holy Cross both have eight points, Loyola sits at six.