The Raiders suffered a Patriot League loss against Navy on Saturday, October 17 after a relatively even matchup. The final score resulted in 3-1 to the Midshipmen.

Junior defender Emily Pullen scored her first career goal off a free kick, tying the game at 1 for the majority of the contest. The Mids

managed to score in the 73rd minute and again at 82 minutes in to finish.

The women’s team’s biggest challenge has been to finishing their shots. The Raiders had managed 13 shots during the game, while the Mids finished with seven.  

“We’ve struggled with finishing some of our opportunities. We do a great job building up chances, we just need to get some more in the back of the net,” Pullen said.

The Raiders faced this same difficulty in their game last week against Cornell. They ultimately tied 0-0 after two overtimes.

“None of our results have been ‘unexpected’ so to speak, because the league is truly unpredictable. You never really know how each team is going to perform,” Pullen said.

Currently, the team has an overall record of 2-3-1 in the League, with a win percentage of .417. Pullen said they are hoping to win the next three conference games against Army, Loyola and Lafayette in order to secure their spot in the Patriot League Tournament.

According to senior forward Sidney Parodie, the team can achieve their goals by staying positive, as the team has all the necessary tools to succeed.

“I’d probably be more worried if the chances weren’t coming at all, but it definitely says something that we are able to create them. Moving forward, we need to be more opportunistic up top and stop trying to score the perfect goal,” Parodie said.

For these next crucial league games, it is important that the Raiders capitalize on any opportunities they get up top to maintain their momentum on the field.

“Patriot League games always have sort of a different feel to them. We’ve played top 25 teams this season but somehow, the feeling before and during a conference game is just different,” said Parodie.

The Raiders have faced more highly ranked teams this season than in past years, and they have an overall record at 4-8-2. They had hoped  this difficult schedule would better prepare them for Patriot League games.

According to Pullen, they need to play more as a team by connecting more passes in order to advance up the field and create even more

offensive opportunities. Reading passing chances is something that the Raiders have struggled with.  

“This year we have switched a lot of people around in terms of their positioning, and people have adjusted really well to that.  A lot of people have become accustomed to new roles on the team,” Pullen said.

This kind of adjusting is crucial in order to end the season on a high note.  Meanwhile, the Raiders will do their best to play as a team and prepare for the ending games of their season.

“I think our team is resilient. We put forth our best effort no matter what team we’re playing and no matter what minute of the game we’re in. We hold each other and ourselves accountable in each and every game,” Pullen said.

The team hosts the Loyola Greyhounds on Saturday October 24 at 5 p.m.