The women’s soccer team suffered a 2-1 defeat last Thursday night, at the hands of the Central Washington Wildcats (CWU). The Clan were looking to improve on their 2-8 conference record, seventh in the GNAC; they were up against a Wildcat side that was 5-3-2 in conference play so far this season, good for fourth in the conference.
Needless to say, it was an important game for SFU, as Central Washington is one of the teams that they are chasing to get into the top four and qualify for the year end GNAC championship tournament.
The first half started off great for SFU. In the fifth minute, Sierra Leung had a perfect chance at the side of the six-yard box to give SFU an early lead, but missed the net.
It would be Central Washington who would get on the board first on a strange play. Goalkeeper Priya Sandhu charged out to play the ball, but as she did, it bounced off of her and right to Wildcat midfielder Mackenzie Nolte, who easily put the ball into the back of the net.
In the 30th, SFU’s Mikaela Guerriero was left unmarked near the penalty spot, and had a glorious chance to tie the game, but her shot just missed the right post.
The second half started off well for the Clan, courtesy of midfielder Elishah Jilling, scoring within the first 10 minutes, with a great shot from just outside the box that curled into the top left corner.
There was hope at this point that SFU could muster a draw, or even a win, but it was short lived. Off of a long free kick, the ball sailed towards CWU’s Nolte, who got a free header that hit the right post. She then collected the rebound and shot it into the empty net for a goal that turned out to be the game winner.
You can chalk this loss up to SFU’s lack of composure with the ball, which was needlessly passed right to an opponent too many times. In addition, the ball was also kicked up the field to where the Clan were outmanned when the easy pass was available, far too often.
Assistant coach Lee Tregonning believes that this can be fixed, but it will take time: “[Composure] comes with confidence. We’re a new coaching staff and almost half of a new team. The season is only three months long and it’s going to take a lot longer than three months to get [the team] set. The more they play together, the more they train together, the composure comes then.”
