On Sunday, the University of Rhode Island’s women’s soccer team continued Atlantic 10
Conference play against Loyola University Chicago in Kingston, tying 1-1 to stay undefeated at home and improve its overall record to 4-4-4.
Both teams found the back of the net once in the first half, but neither did in the second half. Loyola Chicago struck first with a goal from fifth-year Emily Roberts in the 29th minute.
The Rams responded quickly in the 38th minute, off a pass from fourth-year Lauren MacDonald, fourth-year Jill Rosenfeld scored the equalizer, making the score 1-1 in what would end up being the game’s final score.
“Lauren had such a good ball that I just thought, gotta get my body on the line,” Rosenfeld said.
Despite Rosenfeld’s, the Rams struggled to maintain possession for most of the first half. While the struggles were less apparent in the second half, they were still present.
Adding to the struggles were two yellow cards. While they did not lead to any goals for the Ramblers, the Rams now have 14 penalties on the season, double what their opponents have drawn against them.
“I think it’s just 90-minute performances,” Rhode Island women’s soccer head coach Megan Jessee said. “It always takes 90 minutes to get something out of a conference game.”
Dani Eden had five saves, four of which came in a spectacular second-half performance. Rhode Island’s defense supported Eden with strong play, led by fourth-year Aida Name.
The Rams are now 2-1-1 in conference play and three points behind conference leader Saint Louis University.
“We know how important conference games are, and we know how important it is to get points and not drop any,” said Rosenfeld.
According to both Jessee and Rosenfeld, the team is confident that as long as they continue to play together and bring the right energy, they will succeed.
Prior to Sunday’s game, the Rams had 3-2 wins against George Washington University and La Salle University, making the game against Loyola Chicago their third game in a row where they have earned conference points.
“Obviously we’re undefeated at home in conference,” Jessee said. “We’ve been able to get points out of three out of the four games, which is huge, especially when things aren’t necessarily going your way in a certain game, so it’s good to get at least a point out of it.”
While getting points has been a huge success for the Rams, conference play is still young, as the team is only four games deep. Having a hot start has been important, but they still have six regular season matches remaining.
“I think we’re just building off of last season, and we have a lot of goals we want to accomplish,” said Rosenfeld.
The Rams will have a chance to continue climbing in the conference standings as they travel to Davidson College for their next game on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.
