The women’s soccer team’s season can not yet be defined.
The Colonials (3-4) are aware of their struggles on offense and their overall record, but they are waiting for conference play to put a label on their year.
“Despite our current record, we’ve come a long way and made many improvements since pre-season,” freshman goalkeeper Nicole Fasano said. “We’ve dealt with a lot of injuries, but the team has come together, and we’ll only progress further.”
GW faced off against Liberty in their final game before the start of a five-match home stand. For the second-straight match, The Colonials could not find the back of the net, and Liberty seized the lead with a goal early on, in the second half of play. Unable to respond, GW was left with its second straight 1-0 loss.
Seven of the Colonials’ 10 shots in the game were on target.
Liberty dominated GW in corner kicks, with 11 attempts compared to GW’s two. The disparity allowed Liberty to control time of possession and continuously keep the ball away from their own goal.
“We created enough chances to score a goal tonight, and that shows we’re becoming a more dangerous team,” head coach Sarah Barnes said. “However, we need to focus our efforts on being composed to keep the ball and make good decisions under pressure and, ultimately, finish the opportunities we create.”
The Colonials next return home to begin their five-match home stand, but those five games have differing levels of weight. The first two matches of the home stand are against local rivals American and Howard – crucial for neighborhood bragging rights – while the final three comprise the beginning of GW’s A-10 conference schedule.
“These next two games, our focus will be on decision making in the attack and finishing, which will both be important for conference play,” Barnes said. “We want to gather momentum heading into conference, so these next two games offer a great opportunity for us to continue to improve.”
The Colonials are 2-0 at home this season. Their upcoming five-match home stand offers the opportunity to improve a win-loss record, though Barnes has said for the entire season that her team is better than their record shows.
“There are many aspects we’ll evaluate when determining the success of the team, including our ability to be competitive,” Barnes said. “The quality of opponents will be more challenging heading into conference, and we feel that we’re a better team with every game we play, so we’re excited for the challenges that are ahead.”
The Colonials will host American at 4 p.m. Tuesday and Howard at 4 p.m. Friday.
