Kaitlyn Sengphilom aids her team during last weeks game. Photo by Greg Clark
The University of Rhode Island’s Women’s Soccer team was back on the field this past Thursday and Sunday with games against Dartmouth and the Saint Louis University.
On Thursday the Rams entered their matchup against Dartmouth College, who were sitting at 5-1 on the season, with a winning record of 3-2-2. This game also marked the end of non-conference play, and the Rams struggled on the offensive side of things in this matchup. Rhody had five shots but only one of them was a shot on goal. That lone shot on goal came from senior Jaileen Goncalves. Freshman goalkeeper Teresa Morrissey also added two saves.
The Big Green on the other hand had a total of six shots, four of which were on goal and two of those found the back of the net. Rhody failed to get on the scoreboard and dropped the game 2-0 to the Big Green who’s record improved to 6-1 as the Rams fell to 3-3-2. The loss was the second in a row for the Rams as they closed out non-conference play.
It wasn’t long before the Rams were back on the field. They were back in action just three days later on with an afternoon game on Sunday, Sept. 22 as they opened up Atlantic 10 conference play with a matchup against the 5-3-1 Saint Louis University Billikens.
However, the Rams fortunes did not change in this contest as they dropped their third straight game and their first in conference play. The Rams kept it close in the first half as they only trailed 1-0 after a goal in the twenty-second minute by Billikens senior midfielder Evie Lavelle.
Things didn’t go as planned for the Rams in the second half either. Rhody allowed a second Billikens goal just two minutes and eight seconds into the second half. The Rams couldn’t stop the scoring from then on as the Billikens added two more goals with one coming in the 59th minute and another one not long after in the sixty-second minute.
However, the Rams did avoid being shut out for the third straight game when they got on the board with a goal from freshman Brooke Cavino at the sixty-eight minute mark. Time expired and the Rams dropped to 3-4-2 on the season and 0-1 to open conference play.
Rhody did lead the game in saves with four but it wasn’t enough to hold off the Billikens who had a total of twelve shots, five of which were on goal. The Rams matched their shot-total of five from their previous game and improved their total of shots on goal from one to three from their last matchup.
The Rams will be back on the field on Thursday, Sept. 26 as they travel to Ohio to face off against conference foe Dayton University at 7:30 p.m.