The University of Charleston was set to be the greatest challenge of the season so far for the Point Park women’s soccer team, and the Pioneers were unfortunately unable to fully live up to said challenge.
Careleston, the defending Mountain East Conference (MEC) champions, came into Sunday riding a three game winning streak, which extended to four games after they defeated Point Park 4-0 on their home pitch at Highmark Stadium.
Despite the vast difference in records between these two teams, Charleston 9-3 and Point Park 2-7-3, the play between them for the majority of the first half was very even.
Pioneers head coach Kelly Raddar opted to start freshman Reese Cauthen in goal for her second straight game, after she stopped five out of six shots on goal against Concord on Wednesday.
The Pioneers put pressure on the Golden Eagles early and were getting a great deal of good touches and scoring opportunities against Charleston’s goalkeeper Jordan Maynard.
The momentum shifted in favor of Charleston at 37:08 of the first half, when leading scorer Juliette Lucas snuck it past Cauthen after a great keep in from Demari Curry.
Lucas would score another goal about ten minutes into the second half, this one being unassisted.
Point Park gave up two more goals in the 64th and 77th minutes of play. These were scored by Frankie Marrow and Jamie Bland, respectively, to make it 4-0 Charleston.
After the game, Raddar said that the biggest challenge heading into the match was whether or not his team could sustain their high level of play for a full 90 minutes.
“We sustained for as much as we can and then we start breaking – because key pieces in our back line were not there due to injuries and illnesses – and we were kinda playing players out of position,” Raddar said. “We just had some setbacks going into this game.”
Raddar has been happy with his team’s play, but said that they need to work on their mental strength in order to get their game to the best it can be.
“We are in October and, physically, we are playing at our peak,” Raddar said. “Game after game, it’s either close or we’re really competing very well, and then we end up losing it 1-0 or we have a big breakdown. Which, that’s exactly what we just talked to the team about.”
Team captain Vanessa Vazquez said that, while she doesn’t believe every game will be as mentally draining as this one, the players on the team will still have to support each other in order to overcome the mental hurdles unique to soccer.
“I think that mistakes are going to happen because we’re human, but supporting and encouraging our players is what’s going to keep us in this season,” Vazquez said. “I think that being there for each other and playing for each other is going to impact the game as well.”
Vazquez also spoke of how she, as a team captain, can be a part of strengthening this team’s mentality.
“I think I can continue supporting my girls and being there for each other when we have moments like today,” Vazquez said, “and understanding that sometimes we simply couldn’t get the win and we still need to keep our heads up and keep working forward.
Point Park now holds a record of 1-7-1 in MEC play.
The Pioneers will be home once again on Wednesday for a match against Wheeling University at 3 p.m.
