After 110 minutes of scoreless play against Saint Joseph’s Thursday, women’s soccer head coach Sarah Barnes said her team was fortunate to walk away with the tie.
GW (9-4-2, 4-2-1 A-10) was outshot 15-11 in the afternoon contest and picked up its first draw of Atlantic 10 action at home. The performance marked the tail end of the team’s first two-game stretch without a win since August.
“We’re in a funky position,” Barnes said. “There was a point where we were getting better and better each game, and now we’ve hit a stalemate.”
Prior to Sunday’s loss to Saint Louis, the Colonials had emerged with a victory in nine of their previous 10 games and shot up to contention in the conference.
Redshirt senior goalkeeper Miranda Horn picked up her seventh shutout of the year and fifth in the team’s last six outings.
During the first half, GW surrendered possession to the visiting Hawks (7-5-3, 2-3-3 A-10). The majority of rebounds and challenges were won by Hawks players, forcing the Colonials to chase players for a taste of the ball.
Barnes said the disappointments were in part because of a lack of creativity and aggressiveness early in the game.
“When we had the ball, we didn’t look to do anything with it,” Barnes said. “We didn’t look to be dangerous in the attacking third.”
The Colonials relied on their defense and Horn to stay in the game. Within the first 35 minutes, the Hawks managed seven shots, five more than the Colonials achieved in the entire first half.
Six minutes before the halftime whistle, Hawks sophomore forward Kylie D’Ambra attempted a shot to the lower left corner of the net. Horn denied the attempt with a diving stop and ensured a clean sheet heading into the break.
GW began to retaliate in the 59th minute when senior forward Brittany Cooper attempted a hard shot on goal – one of the team’s four on the day.
The Hawks became relentless in using GW’s tactics against them. The Colonials played several balls back into their half – as a way to regroup – allowing Saint Joseph’s senior forward Lauren Dimes and sophomore forward Gabrielle Vagnozzi to attack at full force and attempt shots on the goal.
During the overtime periods, both sides looked drained and fatigued. Only one shot found its target during the last 20 minutes of the game.
Barnes said stress and pressure at this time in the academic semester has caused distractions and interferences that may have affected the result. But she expects the team to push the distractions aside and regroup, she said.
“It’s a frustrating result, but this is a really talented team,” Barnes said. “Horn played well, she provided a lot of good distributions and saved good shots, we have a lot of chances in the future.”
The Colonials head to Dayton Sunday for a 1 p.m. game against the 7-6-2 Flyers.
