Written by Alexis Barton
The women’s soccer team kicked off the season with a weekend of back to back games at home. The Maroons (1-1) faced Mt. St. Mary (N.Y.) and Johns Hopkins in the Roanoke Invitational Soccer Showcase.
In their season opener the Maroons dominated the entire game, scoring 3 goals against the visiting Knights. The first goal, 17 minutes into the game, was a beautiful display of cooperation and communication. With an assist from Emma Woods, senior Kathryn van Orden was able to control the play and bring in the first goal for the Maroons. The home team stayed dominant throughout the first half and secured their lead as the half was beginning to round out. Senior forward Hailey Davis scored the second goal of the game to help the Maroons maintain their lead as they headed to halftime.
In the second half, the Maroons added further to their lead. Freshman Mia Clary scored 18 minutes into the second half, scoring what would turn into the final goal of the game. Another freshman, goalkeeper Carrington Lippi, had her first experience at the collegiate level vs. Mt. St. Mary on Saturday night. “Playing in my first collegiate game was very nerve-wracking, yet exciting. I was nervous going into the game and possibly messing something up or doing something wrong, but it all went smoothly.” Lippi, a freshman from Stafford, VA, helped maintain senior Chris Martin’s impeccable play by holding on to the shutout. Her efforts helped the team solidly defeat the Knights. “Warming up and getting mentally prepared for every aspect of the game was tough yet rewarding when we won our first game.” In this season opener, the Maroons proved that they have not only positional depth, but depth across classes.
On Sunday, the Maroons headed in to the second half of their back-to-back series, where they faced No.16 seed Johns Hopkins. In a close battle, the Maroons took their first loss of the season in a 1-0 match. After their loss to Johns Hopkins, Lippi said, “As a team, we all learned things that we need to work on, and we also recognized things that we did very well. Noticing things that we can improve helps us a lot more for practices so we can get back on our winning streak.” Come see the women’s soccer team in action on September 8th v. Maryville at 2 P.M. Go Maroons!
