The University of Rhode Island women’s soccer team opened Atlantic 10 conference play on Thursday evening, defeating La Salle University 1-0 at the URI Soccer Complex.
Rhody’s postseason hopes were ended by the Explorers last fall in the A-10 tournament quarterfinals, losing 2-0 in Philadelphia. Second-year forward Lauren MacDonald had that on her mind throughout the contest.
“I didn’t want that to happen again,” MacDonald said. “All game, my head was just looking at the goal.”
In the 60th minute, MacDonald found her opportunity. First-year forward Kaia Rice sent a ball in from midfield, splitting the Explorers defense and finding MacDonald’s foot. With no one except La Salle’s fourth-year goalkeeper Michela Auguadro near her, MacDonald elevated the ball over Auguadro and into the back of the net.
Prior to the goal, Rhody committed six fouls in 18 minutes to start the second half, double the total fouls that were committed in the first half. The Rams also allowed three La Salle shots within the 18-minute margin, in comparison to the one La Salle shot in the first half.
Heading into their match with Rhode Island, La Salle entered with a record of 5-2-3, averaged 15.4 shots per game and outscored their opponents 19-10. As for the Rams, they were outshot 88-83 and outscored 9-8 by their opponents through their first eight games.
In this game, however, the Rams outshot the Explorers 15-5 and fourth-year goalkeeper Abigail McCarthy only needed two saves to earn the 1-0 shutout. La Salle’s first shot on goal did not come until the 52nd minute.
“We knew they weren’t going to try to play much through midfield and that our back line had to be connected,” URI Head Coach Megan Jessee said. “I thought we did a great job of winning first balls, competing for second, finding our midfield and ultimately finding our forwards and calming the game down a little bit.”
Fourth-year Tierra Garniss led the Rams in shots in the contest with four.
“I think for the attack, we were always looking to be pressing them right away,” MacDonald said. “We wanted to go to them first and then defensively lock it down in the back, forcing them to play the long ball.”
Auguadro made four saves, three of which occurred in the first half. Garniss had the first two shots on goal by the 17th minute mark, along with one shot that hit the outside of the right post.
Although Rhody took the lead after committing six fouls, the aggressive play didn’t stop, as another six infractions were committed throughout the rest of the game, totalling 15. La Salle finished the game with seven fouls.
“That’s kind of what they’re known for: playing direct, being very physical,” Jessee said. “It’s hard not to [play that way too], we have to make sure we stay in our game and not get into what they’re doing.”
In the final 15 minutes of the contest, Rhody collected four fouls and fourth-year Mie Carstensen picked up a yellow card.
La Salle’s momentum was halted with the game’s only offsides call in the 83rd minute, along with a foul against them in the 85th minute. Despite desperate play from the Explorers that saw multiple balls inside of the 18-yard box, Rhody defense prevented any balls from seeing their goalkeeper and they held on for the win, improving to 4-3-2 on the season.
The Rams will continue conference play when they face Duquesne University in Pittsburgh on Thursday night at 7 p.m. The matchup will be streaming on ESPN+.