This post was written by Hatchet reporter Scott Nover.
Women’s soccer endured a 3-0 defeat to Dayton on Friday, marking GW’s second-straight loss.
The loss is first of the season at home for the Colonials, whose record on the Mount Vernon field now stands at 7-1.
Dayton struck twice in the first half, both off the foot of sophomore forward Ashley Campbell.
Campbell tallied her first goal after a deflected shot by GW goalkeeper Miranda Horn placed the ball at Campbell’s feet. With a point-blank attempt, Campbell – who ranks fourth in the conference with 10 goals scored this season – placed the ball between the posts to give Dayton a 1-0 edge.
The second goal came off a defensive error. After a Colonials player cleared the ball in the direction of Dayton junior midfielder Nicole Waters, Waters sent the ball to Campbell who slotted it into the right side of the net.
“We have to be more organized and right from the start,” GW head coach Sarah Barnes said. “You can’t give them a two-goal lead, you can’t give them a one-goal lead and expect to stay in the game. You spend the whole rest of the game chasing it.”
Despite the two goals, GW put on a decently solid opening half. The Colonials had a few goal-scoring opportunities, particularly during a breakaway that put sophomore forward Mackenzie Cowley one-on-one with Flyers redshirt junior goalkeeper Heather Betancourt.
“I really thought we should have had a goal in the first half,” Barnes said, adding that Cowley’s inability to finish in the first half was an anomaly, but that she believes that experience will fuel Cowley as she moves forward.
The final goal came from sophomore defender Kathleen Golterman as a result of GW’s late-game high press. Waters earned her second assist of the night, after striking a cross into the center of the box, finding Golterman who sent Horn in the opposite direction and placed the ball down the middle through the back of the net.
Barnes said she was pleased with second-half play, though the late-game upswing defies recent game trends at home. The Colonials have seen numerous home-game leads slip in shaky second halves, though the reverse was true on Friday.
“I think we came out in the second half and we defended much better, we were much more organized and we created a number of opportunities,” Barnes said. “The bottom line is we have to play with urgency, we’ve got to really commit to taking some good risks in the attacking half and we need to be really focused and make sure we’re defending as a team, as a unit.
Women’s soccer travels to Missouri on Sunday, taking on the Saint Louis Billikens in their final A-10 matchup. The Colonials look to secure their second-straight A-10 Championship bid, in which the top eight teams in conference play face off in a single-elimination playoff bracket.
