Despite a disappointing 3-0 loss at Fairfield last Friday, the women’s soccer team still proved that it can handle the challenge of the new season.

The game against Fairfield remained scoreless until the opening minutes of the second half. In an attempt to kickstart the offense, Head Coach Kathy Brawn decided to change strategy. However, that proved unsuccessful as the Raiders went down 3-0. The Stags, who had opened their season with two wins, have a rather consistent team that is one of the best in the region. They controlled both the pace and tempo for most the first half; yet, when push came to shove, senior goalkeeper Carly Sousa showed her great abilities and made seven saves with three other shots going off target. Conversely, the Raiders were only able to muster a single shot on offense. Fairfield kept pushing forward until they finally scored in the 54th minute. Subsequently, Brawn made a crucial substitute by sending a forward in place of a defender in order to put greater pressure on the opponents. Unfortunately, this offensive play did not produce the expected results, for the Stags took advantage of the Raiders’ weakened defense on two occasions in the last three minutes. They made the most of two consecutive counter-attacks in the 87th and 88th minutes.

Afterwards, Brawn admitted that the squad did not play titsbest game, even though the margin between the two teams was not that large.

“The score was not indicative,” she said. “At the end, we tried to push numbers forward. We played an average game against an outstanding opponent. We’re still growing through with players getting to know each other.”

Two days later, Colgate took the field against Sacred Heart and completely demolished its opponent 3-0. It was senior Franny Iacuzzi’s day as she scored a hat trick, thereby putting her in third-place in the Colgate career scoring books with 39 goals. She first converted a penalty kick in the 22nd minute and then made the most of a deflected ball by scoring into the open net in the 38th. To cap it off, she scored in the 47th minute when she was one-on-one with the Sacred Heart goalkeeper and did not hesitate to roll the ball past her. Later on in the game, the time came for Sousa to display her skills again by making three saves before being replaced by senior Brittany Pearsall and sophomore Carrie Glass, who went in to play for the first time this season.

“We put together a better game,” Brawn remarked. “We did a great deal just of playing the game we planned. The players are starting to play better together.”

Finally, four games into the season, the time has come for Colgate’s first home match. As the game will be broadcast nationally, coaches and players alike are anticipating a high turnout on the part of students and fans.

“We had a heart-breaking loss the last time we played[Iona], so now we’re looking forward to the game. They’re struggling a bit right now, but it’s a great opportunity for them,” Brawn concluded.