The University of Rhode Island Women’s Soccer team continued non-conference play this past week, splitting road matchups against Holy Cross and Princeton.
The week began with a 1-0 victory versus Holy Cross, courtesy of a second-half goal from junior defender Allison Mogauro.
It was a defensive battle between both teams early on, with each team trading shots on goal. Holy Cross’ Colleen McIlvenna took the first shot of the game in the seventh minute, which was saved by Rams goalkeeper, sophomore Faith Hutchins. Junior forward Brooke Cavino countered the Crusaders opportunity 6 minutes later with a shot of her own that was saved by Holy Cross goalkeeper Olivia Dubin.
The two teams continued this pattern in the first half with no success, eventually heading into the locker room with the score knotted at 0.
Fortunes changed in the second half for the Rams. The team picked up the offensive pressure with three early shots within the first nine minutes of the second half from freshman midfielder Cristina Sallent, Brooke Cavino and sophomore midfielder Alyssa Fleming. It was Allison Mogauro who broke the deadlock in the 66th minute with her first goal and points of her career, scoring from the top of the box.
From there, the Rhode Island attack continued to apply pressure on the Holy Cross defense and held strong, coming out with 1-0 victory.
Rhode Island Women’s Soccer coach Megan Jessee was pleased with her team’s performance and enjoyed seeing her team capitalize off opportunities after struggling with that in their previous game against Boston University.
“[We didn’t do anything] differently,” she said. “We dominated most of the game against our past opponents, but could not find the back of the net. Reiterating the basics and finishing at the net.”
On Sunday, the team traveled to the Garden State for a matchup against an undefeated Princeton Tigers team. The Tigers were coming off an upset, 4-3 victory on the road over No. 9 Rutgers last Thursday.
The Princeton attack challenged goalkeeper Faith Hutchins early, forcing her to make the first of her 14 saves in the fifth minute. Three minutes later, senior defender Rebecca D’Anna gave the Rams their best shot of the half with a shot to the bottom right corner, but Princeton goalkeeper Tyler McCamey was able to make the save. Fortunately, the Rams were able to go into halftime without conceding a goal.
Princeton finally opened the scoring in the 67th minute after sophomore Alexis Hiltunen finished off a pass on the endline from fellow sophomore Heather MacNabb.
Senior Amy Paternoster added to the Princeton lead 20 minutes later with a shot to the far post. The play was set up by sophomore Jen Estes weaving through the Rhody defense before finding Paternoster for the goal.
Despite the loss, Jesse remained hopeful saying that Princeton is a good team that is capable of playing in the NCAA Tournament and they were a good test that will prepare them for the rest of their season.
The Rams turn the page on Sunday to conference play when they return home for their conference opener against the Davidson Wildcats. The last time these two teams met, the Wildcats escaped with an overtime victory in the 98th minute. Kick off is scheduled for 1 p.m. and the game can be watched on ESPN+.