Wednesday night's 2-0 victory over the University of New Hampshire accomplished two goals for the women's soccer team. First, the team earned bragging rights for the state of New Hampshire. Second, and more important, the young team regrouped and found the winning touch after dropping their previous two games.When on display under the lights in a feature battle at Souhegan High School, the 2-2 Big Green rose to their talent level and put together a winning effort and head into this weekend's key battle with Princeton with confidence.
Melissa Roth '00 opened the scoring minutes into the second half at 49:55 when she took a pass from Betsy Dobbin '98 and blasted it past Wildcat goalie Lorien Snellings. Taking advantage of the momentum they had just gained, the Big Green scored 10 minutes later as freshman Jen Murray '01 found the back of the net with assists coming from Roth and April Rasala '99. Kristin Luckenbill '01 got the shutout by turning away two shots.
One of the keys to victory was that the team felt more comfortable playing with one another with three games under their belt.
"We had a few rough spots in the last games, mainly because we aren't used to playing with each other," Katherine Roda '00 said. "But the more we play together the more we smooth out those rough spots, so I can only see our team getting better from here on out."
Even though UNH's record now stands at 1-7, the players knew the value of the victory was more important than record's indicate.
"The win was huge," Luckenbill said. "It lifted our confindence immesureably after the two dissapointing losses. This gives the team the confidence it needs heading into the Princeton game."
