It wasn’t the sort of weekend head coach Tanya Vogel wanted. Her team came out of the Navy Invitational with two losses to Davidson and Bryant, its play marked by inconsistency.
And despite the similar outcomes, the Colonials looked like two different squads on the field, a sign that the team has yet to develop its rhythm as a cohesive unit.
And, as the Colonials continue to search for an identity, Vogel continues to search for veteran leadership.
“We are really looking for leadership on the field. We have a game plan. We play a certain way and we really got away from that,” Vogel said, “I’m disappointed. There’s no question that I need some leaders out on the field who actually take hold of the game and change it and right now we don’t have that.”
The Colonials’ first loss came Friday at the hands of the Davidson Wildcats. After finding themselves in a one-goal hole early in play, the Colonials (2-5) responded with two quick goals. Senior Sierra Smidinger scored her third goal of the season in the 10th minute, capitalizing on a corner kick from junior Molly Bruh. Her tally was quickly echoed by junior Adriana Moya, who gave GW the lead with an unassisted goal just one minute after Smidinger’s goal.
But after GW’s quick battle, Davidson took control of the rest of the game. The Wildcats picked up the pace offensively and defensively in the second half, scoring three goals and keeping GW from getting off a single shot. The final tally was 4-2 Davidson, a disappointing result that Vogel attributed to a lack of defensive might from her players.
“The response from our girls to come back and get two quick goals was great, but we still made some tactical and mental mistakes in the beginning in the second half.” Vogel said. “We had talked about getting good pressure on the ball and we had horrible pressure on the ball and when you don’t have pressure on the ball the ball is going to go in the back of the net.”
Though Sunday’s game against Bryant ended in another loss for the Colonials, the nature of play was markedly different from the Davidson defeat. GW outshot Bryant 16 to 12, adding five corner kicks to the Bulldogs six. It was a series of offensive opportunities for GW that the team was unable to capitalize on, held scoreless throughout play.
Bryant pushed through the Colonials defense to score in the 28th minute, and GW was unable to respond in kind, falling 1-0. The end result was frustrating for the Colonials, who were unable to capitalize on frequent scoring opportunities, with many of GW’s shot attempts falling just slightly off target from the goal.
“We created finishing opportunities today but if you don’t put the ball in the back of the net then you don’t win games.” Vogel said.
The Colonials will continue to search for their identity and present a cohesive front on the field in their next match against Gardner-Webb, with play scheduled for Sept. 16 at 7 p.m.
