The University of Rhode Island women’s soccer team had an unfortunate streak extended this past week when they lost their 10th straight game.
Rhode Island now sits with a record of 3-11-1 and remains winless (0-6) in Atlantic 10 Conference play. The Rams suffered two tough losses this past week, a 4-3 overtime loss at St. Bonaventure University on Thursday, and a 4-2 loss at the University of Massachusetts on Sunday.
Rhode Island was first on the score sheet on Thursday when sophomore Amanda Nardella headed home a set piece from sophomore Katrin Gylfadottir for her second goal of the season in the 15th minute of the first half. Just a minute after Nardella’s finish, St. Bonaventure evened the score when Abby Maiello finished home a cross in the 16th minute.
Around the 48th minute, St. Bonaventure knocked in their second goal off of the post and Rhode Island responded in the 52nd minute when sophomore Taylor Ross knocked a 35-yard strike past the St. Bonaventure keeper to tie the game at 2-2.
Rhode Island regained the lead in the 61st minute when senior Ari Stanton scored her sixth goal of the season off of an assist from junior Ellie Bailes. St. Bonaventure tied the score at three apiece in the 70th minute, scoring from five yards out and moving the match into extra time.
St. Bonaventure scored the golden goal in the 99th minute when Lauren Hill scored her second of the match off of a cross.
In Sunday’s match, again, Rhode Island was the first to score before facing a similar result.
Ross finished a cross from Stanton for Ross’ third goal in three matches to open the scoring against UMass. Ten minutes later, UMass knotted the score when Julia Weithofer finished a shot just inside of Rhode Island 18-yard box. Two more UMass goals were scored before halftime – Erin Doster in the 31st minute off of a strike inside of the box, and in the 36th minute off of a corner kick – bringing the halftime score to 3-1.
Bailes cut the lead to 3-2 in the 51st minute when she finished her first goal of the year. Ten minutes after Bailes scored, UMass ended any hope of a comeback when Jackie Bruno scored in the 61st minute off of a header.
“The overtime loss to St. Bonaventure was a tough result for us as was the loss at UMass,” head coach Michael Needham said. “We had offense this week, but we played in a formation that allowed us to create more on the offensive side and unfortunately allowed our opponents to get in behind us.”
Rhode Island aims to end their double-digit losing streak this week when they host Dayton tonight at 7 p.m. at the Rhode Island Soccer Complex.
“Dayton is always a tough matchup,” Needham said. “It will be a good test for us, and it’s good to return home following a couple tough losses. We really need a conference win to finish this season strong.”