The University of Rhode Island’s women’s soccer team lost both of their road games last week facing the Duquesne University Dukes on Thursday and the University of Massachusetts Minutewomen on Sunday as they fell to 1-2-0 in Atlantic 10 play.
The Rams traveled to Pittsburgh to take on the Dukes for the first game of the road trip on 9/26. Rhody was coming off their first A-10 conference-opening win since 2021 and looked to keep the momentum going in their first road conference game.
Neither team could get much going offensively in the first half. They combined for six shots, the Rams with two and the Dukes with four, as both teams only had one shot on goal each.
That offensive stagnation would not continue for the second half. The Rams and Dukes more than doubled their shots, with seven and nine respectively, as they tried to take advantage of the lack of shots on goal both goalies had seen through the first half.
Both teams were continuing to stay solid defensively until URI committed a foul inside the penalty box in the 68th minute. This led to third-year Dukes Midfielder, Mackenzie Muir, keeping her penalty kick on the ground as she aimed the ball just slightly to the right as fourth-year Goalkeeper Abby McCarthy dove to the left giving the Dukes the first and only goal of the game as the Rams fell 1-0, suffering their first A-10 loss of the season. The goal caused some words to be said between McCarthy and Muir, with Muir needing to be slightly held back by teammates to keep her from taking the jarring too far and possibly earning an unnecessary yellow card.
Just three days later on Sunday, Rhody was back on the road, making the trip to Amherst, Massachusetts where they took on the Minutewomen.
This game was a flipped script compared to Thursday’s game as both teams had put one in the back of the net within the first 20 minutes of the game.
UMass was able to draw a foul in the fifth minute that led to a free kick on the right wing by fifth-year midfielder Ella Curry which passed by every Ram and Minutewoman, who were crashing the box to redirect the ball, until it reached the bottom corner of the back post putting the Minutewomen up 1-0. The Rams were quick to answer, however, as Garniss used her physicality to grab possession of the ball right inside UMass’s box and get it past fifth-year goalkeeper Bella Mendoza to tie the game up at 1-1 in the 19th minute.
Garniss’s goal was her first since 2022, as she had suffered a season-ending injury just two games into the season last year.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Garniss said. “I feel like I’ve worked towards it for quite a while.”
The game was still knotted 1-1 going into halftime and for the beginning 29 minutes of the second half. Both the Dukes’ and Rams’ offense regularly approached the final third of the field, and in response, the defense forced errant passes or stole possession and cleared the ball out of the box to stall promising possessions for the offenses.
“Defensively we’re doing really well,” URI Head Coach Megan Jessee said. “We were picking off a lot of balls in our opponents’ half.”
This stalemate ended in the 74th minute, as Curry placed a corner kick just past McCarthy’s outstretched hands. Fellow fifth-year Hannah Peric headed the ball and redirected it into the net for the game-sealing goal to put the Minutewomen up 2-1.
The Rams are still looking for their first multi-goal game since their game against Boston University on Sept. 15 where the Rams won 3-2.
“One thing we’re gonna talk about this week is just more composure on the ball,” Jessee said. “We’re definitely getting into the final third of our opponents a lot so it’s just more about that finishing touch in that area of the field.”
The Rams continue A-10 play when they face the Richmond University Spiders on Thursday at the URI Soccer Complex at 7 p.m. The game is available to be streamed on ESPN+, and fans can listen to the radio broadcast on RIU2.org .