The University of Rhode Island women’s soccer team picked up back-to-back wins for the first time this season with 3-2 victories over Atlantic 10 Conference opponents George Washington University on Thursday and La Salle University on Sunday.
The two wins also represented the first time the Rams scored more than one goal in a game this season.
“We finally put some pieces together,” URI head coach Megan Jessee said. “I think we finally put a great performance on the field.”
Rhody returned home for the first time in two weeks on Thursday after dropping its conference opener 2-1 to Duquesne on Sept. 19.
The Revolutionaries were the first on the board with a goal from first-year forward Ella Provost-Heron in the 24th minute. Provost-Heron got past URI fourth-year defender Aida Name and squeezed her shot between fourth-year goalkeeper Dani Eden and the goalpost for the 1-0 lead.
Four minutes later, fellow first-year forward Sophia Michel was one-on-one with Name in the box. Michel got Name to bite on a fake and buried her shot in the top right corner for a 2-0 lead.
In the final moments of the half, Rams’ fourth-year forward Lauren MacDonald stole the ball and took a desperation shot from just outside the box that flew over third-year Revolutionaries’ goalkeeper Marley Gerber’s head and into the right corner with two seconds remaining.
“In the film, we’ve watched that the goalie was off the line,” MacDonald said. “So trying to take advantage of that, and I think it gave us some good momentum.”
Rhody maintained the momentum, as MacDonald scored the equalizer in the 65th minute, her second goal of the game and the season.
The goal came after second-year Revolutionaries’ midfielder Caroline Donmoyer misplayed the ball, allowing URI’s fourth-year midfielder Courtney Poon to poke it away to MacDonald. MacDonald then ran along the top of the penalty box and delivered a powerful shot into the top right corner of the net.
In the 77th minute, URI got its golden opportunity after George Washington fourth-year midfielder Rose Vigran blocked MacDonald’s shot in the box with her arm to draw a penalty.
Jessee tasked Poon with taking the penalty, who placed a perfect shot toward the left side of the net past Gerber’s outstretched hands for the 3-2 lead and eventual victory. The victory also marked the first time URI had a comeback win this season.
“I felt confident that I could put it in for us,” Poon said. “I think the team wanted me [to take the kick] too, and I also wanted to take that on myself.”
Rhody then escaped the weekend’s nor’easter and traveled to Philadelphia for a road matchup with La Salle.
URI second-year forward Claire O’Neill found the back of the net for the first time in her career just seven minutes into the game following a Rams’ corner kick. In the 23rd minute, fourth-year forward Nika Jacobs added another goal to Rhody’s tally with a second-chance opportunity.
A second Ram scored their first career goal when first-year forward Molly Merkel’s shot got past La Salle third-year goalkeeper Samantha Widnick in the 34th minute. Merkel’s score gave Rhody a three-goal lead heading into halftime, the largest for the team this season.
La Salle began to mount a comeback in the second half. In the 59th minute, La Salle first-year forward Shiloh Moore found herself one-on-one with Eden and put the shot in the lower right corner to get the Explorers on the board.
A little over 15 minutes later, La Salle third-year forward Alexis Garcia controlled a cross from Moore and took a shot from the top of the box that slipped past Eden’s reach and into the net to cut Rhody’s lead to just one.
Despite URI second-year defender Natalie White receiving a red card one minute later, Rhode Island held onto the 3-2 lead to move to 2-1 in A-10 play with 10 players.
