Despite trailing 2-0 with less than 13 minutes to play in Sunday’s game against Charlotte at the Mount Vernon Athletic Complex, GW women’s soccer coach Tanya Vogel never doubted her team’s ability to mount a comeback.
“This team has shown a ton of character all year long, and I don’t believe there’s any (deficit) that we can’t come back from,” she said. “We just fought and fought, which is something we’ve worked for all year long. The outcome is disappointing, but I don’t care if our team goes down 3-0. We have the capability, talent-wise, discipline-wise and work rate-wise, to come back.”
After goals by freshman Dara Rosen in the 78th minute and sophomore Kerry Philbin in the 87th minute that tied the game, the momentum seemed to be on GW’s side heading into overtime. So when Charlotte forward Nikki Dumencich sent the ball over the outstretched arms of GW goalie Amie Kern in the second overtime, players, coaches and fans alike appeared stunned over the Colonials’ first home loss of the season.
Several people protested the goal after it appeared that Dumencich was in an offsides position, but the referees ruled to let the play stand, giving the 49ers (8-4-2, 3-1 Atlantic 10) an unlikely 3-2 victory.
“Officiating is officiating, and it’s unfortunate when officiating influences the game,” Vogel said.
Senior Shari Taylor, a defender, had an impact on both ends of the field, starting in the back and ultimately igniting the Colonials’ (8-6, 1-3 A-10) comeback with her move to forward.
“Everyone gets excited when I go up top, so I think it’s a morale-builder, which is a good feeling,” Taylor said. “We let two slip in today, and that’s unfortunate because we outplayed them the whole game, but I think that we recognized the mistakes we made, and we’ll be better on set plays in the future.”
On Friday afternoon, the Colonials battled pouring rain and a feisty Richmond team to a 2-1 overtime victory. After losing their first two conference games on the road last weekend, Vogel said that the home win over the Spiders (1-9-2, 1-2 A-10) was critical.
“I applaud my girls for staying focused. It was a tough battle against Richmond, who, despite their record, is a very good team. In my opinion, they are still going to be one of the best teams in the A-10 that people have to deal with,” she said.
The win over the Spiders came courtesy of goals by junior Kierra Colker in the 54th minute and by junior Nicole Trickett, who knocked home a loose ball in extra time.
With the last two games of the Colonials’ four-game homestand coming up next weekend, Vogel said that the games against Fordham and St. Bonaventure are very important.
“We have to continue to work our butts off and play better soccer,” she said. “I know we’re two-thirds of the way through the season, but we still have to be able to connect a little better in the midfield and tighten things up a little bit in the back. We have some more work to do, and then some polishing on Wednesday and Thursday to get ready for these big games.”
