The Middlebury Women’s Soccer team came up short against NESCAC foe Bowdoin, losing 1-0 on Saturday, Sept. 26.
Bouncing back from an arduous week in which the Panthers played a total of 290 minutes in four days, the team travelled to Brunswick, Maine to take on the Polar Bears. From 2009-2013, Middlebury ruled this matchup, defeating Bowdoin six straight times, before losing for the first time in six years last year.
However, the team’s youth is still visible, and Head Coach Peter Kim has attributed the team’s early difficulties to a steep learning curve.
“We’re coming into our own as a team,” Kim said “We’re young, so we’ve made some young mistakes. It’s a matter of getting some composure to play our style of play and create more goal scoring opportunities.”
The lone goal of the game came 20 minutes into the match. After a Polar Bear lofted a pass forward, Kiersten Turner raced into the box to challenge Middlebury keeper Kate Reinmuth ’17 on a loose ball in the box. After Reinmuth fumbled the ball, the senior captain was able to tap the ball past Reinmuth and an oncoming Middlebury defender into the back of the net to give Bowdoin the 1-0 advantage.
Turner’s effort would prove to be the only goal of the game as neither team could get on the score sheet in the remaining 70 minutes. Adrianna Gildner ’17 almost grabbed one back for the Panthers with just four minutes left in the game, but the Bowdoin goalkeeper just barely kept the attempt out.
“We worked very hard, but overall we played poorly,” Kim said. “We lost our composure. Full credit to Bowdoin as they’re a very good team, but we have the ability to play a lot better than we did.”
Bridget McCarthy was the hero for Bowdoin, making four saves in the opening half to deny Middlebury any opportunities. Reinmuth made a pair of saves in the first 30 minutes before being replaced by Emily Eslinger ’18 who finished with three saves of her own.
Bowdoin held a 4-2 edge in corner kicks and 12-9 shot advantage. Hannah Robinson ’16 finished with three shots and two on goal to lead the Panthers’ offensive efforts.
Kim is looking for his team to work hard in practice this week and come back even stronger.
“We’ve lost heartbreakers to two important opponents but we still have the bulk of our NESCAC schedule left,” Kim said. “The next couple of weeks are crucial; it’s too early for us to be too worried about our position in the conference, but we also know we need to start winning games.”
Middlebury looks to redeem a NESCAC win when Colby visits Dragone Field on Saturday, Oct. 3.
