Women’s Soccer, Like Butter, On a Roll

Last week, the women’s soccer team extended their winning streak to five, after pulling off a three-point shutout at home against Plattsburgh State on Wednesday and then a 3-1 win on the road versus Amherst.

Wednesday’s win over Plattsburgh displayed the strength and depth of this year’s roster. Sachi Howson ’21 started in goal, tallying two saves throughout the first half, and Ursula Alwang closed it out with another two saves in the second.

This marks Howson’s first time seeing the field in her collegiate soccer career, as she was out with a broken finger and a concussion during the 2017 season.

“Once I got the message [about starting], I just tried my best not to get too nervous about the game,” Howson said. “I had never started before or even played in a college level game really, so it was super exciting for me. I had to make sure I was focused in warms ups so I could be the most confident when the game started.”

Howson humbly attributes much of her successful debut to strong play from her defenders.

“I think that the key to the game’s shutout was making sure our team stayed organized starting from the back,” Howson said. “If you are able to organize the team and defense and put them into the right places, you are able to shutdown attacks before they even happen.”

The team’s intensity certainly carried over to their matchup against the Amherst Mammoths over the weekend. The Panthers fiercely came back to score three consecutive goals after being down by one in the first half and facing multiple close calls from Amherst’s attackers.

Attacking midfielder Sabrina Glaser ’20 proved valuable in securing the win, scoring two of the team’s three goals, while Ellie Greenberg ’20 tacked on the third.

Glaser’s showing against Amherst will likely not be her last star performance, as the junior already holds three of the team’s sixteen goals this season -- matched only by three from Leah Salzman ’21.

Glaser has even higher hopes for the team, however, and is confident this is the right group of girls to make it happen.

“We’re definitely a tight knit group every year and that doesn’t really change [because] we’re always a family, but I think this year we’ve all been communicating really well with one another,” an enthusiastic Glaser said. “[Practices] are competitive and fast-paced, but we all still have fun playing together, which I think is awesome.”

The Panthers will face Bowdoin and Hamilton in a double header this weekend, with an appetite to keep their winning streak alive, one game at a time.