Women’s Soccer Suffers Setbacks in Seattle

Following the Puma Raider Invitational, Colgate Women’s Soccer Head Coach Kathy Brawn said that her team would, “go through a lot of growing pains” this season. Over the weekend, the Raiders experienced some of these growing pains, falling 4-1 to the University of Washington last Friday, and losing 6-0 to the nationally-ranked University of Portland on Sunday at the Husky/Nike Invitational in Seattle.

Colgate opened the tournament against the hosts, who were fresh off back-to-back wins against Montana and Gonzaga. The Huskies’ confidence stemming from these wins was evident, as they came out firing on all cylinders and took a 1-0 lead after just 37 seconds on a goal from sophomore midfielder Kellye Joswick. Colgate showed a bit of resolve after the early goal, however, with senior captain Josie Johnson tying the match at one after 13 minutes. The Colgate defense managed to keep this score intact until the 40th minute, when Washington’s star junior forward Veronica Perez scored her first goal of the match, giving the Huskies a 2-1 lead heading into the break. Colgate kept things close until the 71st minute, when Perez scored again, and Washington’s sophomore forward Tess Bartlett put the game completely out of reach in the 89th minute when she scored off a Jane Mitchell assist to finalize the scoring and hand Washington a 4-1 victory.

The Raiders ended their participation in the tournament with a Sunday afternoon match against the NCAA’s ninth-ranked team, the University of Portland, who had defeated the former top-ranked team, Southern Cal, the weekend before and were fresh off an 8-0 win over Kennesaw State two days prior. Portland’s first-year striker Danielle Foxhoven stole the show from the opening whistle, scoring her first goal of the match just seven minutes in off a Megan Rapinoe cross. After a Michelle Enyeart goal from a penalty kick, Foxhoven added her second tally, firing a shot into the top corner of the goal from 18 yards out, giving Portland a 3-0 lead just 22 minutes into the match. Junior midfielder Kendra Chandhoke closed the first-half scoring in the 32nd minute, heading home an Elli Reed cross. Portland kept the pressure up in the second half, but solid defense from Colgate and good goalkeeping from first-year Rebecca Michlin kept Portland from adding to their tally until the 74th minute, when sophomore midfielder Keelin Winters scored from twelve yards out. Foxhoven, sitting on two goals since the 23rd minute, was determined to get her hat trick and did so just 20 seconds from the final whistle, giving Portland a very solid 6-0 win over Colgate.

The Colgate Raiders come back home tonight for a home match against St. Francis at 7 p.m. on Van Doren Field before heading to Syracuse for a Sunday afternoon match against the Orange at the SU Soccer Stadium.