Suffolk University women’s soccer team traveled to Lesley University Sept. 17 and Gordon College Sept. 21 for their sixth and seventh games of the year, resulting in their first tie and loss of the season.
The tie kept the Rams unbeaten with a record of 5-0-1, securing their first place spot in the conference. Suffolk is now unbeaten in back-to-back games against Lesley and this tie is the first in program history against the Lynx. After the loss to Gordon, the Rams’ longest unbeaten streak since going 7-0-1 in 2011 came to an end.
At Lesley, the Rams were off to an aggressive start with a shot by Maci Pekmezian in the first 10 minutes. Suffolk was the first to score thanks to a goal by freshman Sinclaire Hart. With an assist from Pekmezian, Hart notched her first collegiate goal.
“I shot it, it hit the crossbar and bounced in. You wouldn’t immediately have known that it went in,” said Hart. “It took a while to get to that goal. It wasn’t immediate in the first five minutes like it has been in other games.”
Suffolk was simultaneously fighting on defense with two shots saved by sophomore goalkeeper Arden Ferrari-Henry in the first few minutes. The keeper who was recently named Conference of New England defensive player of the week was able to successfully hold off Lesley during the first half after numerous shots on goal.
The team was not quite as lucky during the second half after a foul in the box led to a Lesley penalty kick, with the shot going in to tie the score at 1-1. The team continued to battle throughout the second half. Ferrari-Henry was tested four more times as Lesley tried to score another goal. Each attempt was stopped by the sophomore, leading to a season best eight saves. The Rams finished the second half with 10 shots, tripling their first half output.
“We were creating chances, we were getting behind the ball, we were defending well, we were attacking well,” said Ferrari-Henry. “We’re not happy with the tie because it felt like we should have won.”
The Rams were able to hold off Lesley until the final whistle with two shots in the last seven minutes. Lesley out-shot Suffolk 16-13 but both teams finished with five corner kicks each. Suffolk is now 2-8-1 all-time against Lesley.
After a successful first three weeks, the Rams’ winning streak ended with a 2-1 loss at Gordon College Sept. 21. This was the eighth matchup between the Rams and the Fighting Scots in a series that dates back to 2011. The Rams are now 0-9-0 all-time against Gordon.
Gordon sophomore Eowyn Lapp secured the first point for the team within 10 minutes of the first whistle and the Rams were able to hold them off until half time. Suffolk junior Lily Goldmann scored a goal to prevent a shutout, but Suffolk still came up short leading to their first loss of the season. The Rams finished with a total of 11 shots but were whistled for 13 fouls.
“We take it day by day,” said Hart. “Our morale is really good. We’re just continuing to keep working.”
Suffolk will continue to “practice how you play” in the next few weeks as they prepare to take on tougher teams in the conference. The Rams will host the University of New England Sept. 28. They will play nine more regular season games throughout September and October.
