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`Just a month ago Millersville’s women’s soccer team was sitting pretty at 4-2 and averaging 2.7 goals a game. Things have gone south in a hurry. Since their hot start, the ladies have gone 0-6-2 scoring only four goals. While it would be easy to mail in the season, that has not been the case. Despite the recent struggles the desire has still been there. Of the eight losses, five have gone to overtime and another was a 1-0 loss to Kutztown.
After consecutive losses to Kutztown and Edinboro, they traveled to East Stroudsburg for a key conference game. In a game they really needed, Millersville was dominated by ESU losing 2-0. The visiting Marauders were out shot 24-5. On September 27 the Marauders faced another must win conference game against Shippensburg. Shippensburg carried play early scoring twice in the first 32 minutes. Millersville answered back in the 43 minute as they scored off a deflected shot by Sarah Cameron. Despite the late goal the Marauders could not build on the momentum and ended up losing 3-1. Ship out-shot the home team 10-1 in the second half.
The Marauders then traveled to Bloomsburg for a daunting task. Standing in front of them was a very solid Huskie team who currently sits second in the conference. Millersville came out hard, when Kayla Hartley picked up the game’s first goal. The visiting Marauders were able to hold on to the lead until the 81 minute. MU was just ten minutes away from pulling a huge upset on the road. Bloomsburg completed their comeback scoring in the 98 minute of overtime. This was possibly the most excruciating loss of the season. “The big thing is just knowing that we are better than those teams and not letting down. It seems that we have one letdown in over 100 minutes of playing and the other team just capitalizes. We also have to finish the opportunities that we get,” Kate Moeller said.
Before Millersville ended the losing streak they had to endure another heartbreaker. This time the culprit was California University. In a road contest the lady Marauders were edged 2-1 in double OT. Millersville fell behind early in the second half but rallied on a goal by senior Sarah Cameron in the 67 minute. The game went scoreless in the first overtime despite a few Millersville chances. In the second extra session Cal scored in the 102 minute off a header.
On October 7, MU played host to conference leading West Chester. The home team may have had their best moment of the year as they played the Rams to a scoreless tie. Normally a tie would not be held in such high regard, but given the Marauders’ recent struggles and the fact that West Chester was ranked sixth in the country there is reason for celebration. Senior Jamie Lancaster started stopping all five shots on goal. “The West Chester game was awesome; it actually felt like a win. I mean going into every game we have no pressure because we are the underdog. I think that a lot of teams overlook us based on our record and we are proving that we are a talented team.” Kate Moeller said proudly.
In their next game against Mansfield-a team they had defeated 3-2 earlier in the year, the hosting Mountaineers and the Marauders fought to a scoreless draw. Cameron had the best chance of the game but her shot rang off of the post in the first half. Millersville currently sits 4-8-2 and will return to action when they travel to Philadelphia on October 18 to battle Chestnut Hill in a non-conference game.