The women’s soccer team fell to River State Conference (RSC) rival University of Rio Grande on Saturday, Oct. 16, to the score of 2-0 in Rio Grande, Ohio. The Pioneers now stand at 5-7-1 on the season and 4-2-1 for in-conference play. The loss places Point Park in fourth place in the RSC standings, only a game back of third place Indiana University East, and a game ahead of fifth place Indiana University Kokomo. The team still has four more games to their regular season as they head down the final two weeks till playoffs.

The Pioneers were on the road on Saturday and were greeted by Rio Grande early in the first half of the match up. The Red Storm came up with two goals early on in the game, scoring in the 25th minute and quickly putting another through in the 28th minute to put Rio Grande ahead 2-0 before the half. Point Park would look to try and get one through late in the first half with a shot off the foot of sophomore defender Athena Beck but was stopped by the Red Storm goalie in the 44th minute. The second half was a defensive shut down by Rio Grande, keeping the Pioneers to zero shots in the second half, making sure to hold their lead all the way down to the final whistle.

Point Park would only be able to muster two shots in the contest, with both being in the first half and only one making it on net, the previously mentioned chance by Beck. Freshman forward Madison Spencer fired off the other shot in the 16th minute but went high. Rio Grande would end up taking 15 shots in comparison, landing 7 on net in their victory. Sophomore goalkeeper Ella Serlin would be in net for the contest, saving 5 of the 7 shots that landed on net.

The Pioneers will look to brush off the loss with a match up against Ohio Christian University on Tuesday, Oct. 19, at Circleville, Ohio. The Tuesday match up is a make-up game from Oct. 14 that was supposed to be played against OCU as well. Point Park will then continue their road trip with a stop in Midway, Kentucky, where they will face off against the Midway University Eagles on Saturday, Oct. 23.

The final two games of the season will be back at home, with the first match being on Thursday, Oct. 28 against IU East Red Wolves at Highmark stadium at 6 p.m. The final game of the season, and senior night, will take place at the Montour Junction Sports Complex in Coraopolis, where the Pioneers will face off against the Saint Mary of the Woods College Pomeroys. The final game will be on Saturday, Oct. 30 at 10 a.m. All games will be in-conference matchups as the Pioneers will look to jump up the standings as the regular season draws to a close. All home games are still streamable through the Point Park athletics website for viewing.