The women's soccer team (4-7-1, 1-3-0 Ivy League) continued its road trip this week, picking up one victory in three close matches.
Brown 3, URI 2
The Bears found their scoring touch against in-state rival URI last Wednesday, tallying a season-high three goals at the URI Soccer Complex. The team jumped out to 1-0 and 2-1 leads, but the Rams persistently fought back to knot up the score. Marybeth Lesbirel '12 and Melissa Kim '10 each tallied a goal and an assist, with Lesbirel putting the Bears up in the 16th minute and Kim striking the ball into the net 11 minutes after the restart.
With the game tied 2-2 in the closing minutes, though, it was up to a familiar face to pull out the victory for Bruno. Joyce Chun '11 scored her third game-winner of the season, again in dramatic fashion. She found herself one-on-one against Rams goalie in the 89th minute, and calmly deposited the ball into the back of the net, giving the Bears their fourth victory of the season.
Head Coach Phil Pincince praised Chun's recent goal-scoring streak.
"It was a great goal," Pincince said. "She's been on the mark, and has done some nice goal-scoring for us."
Harvard 1, Brown 0 (OT)
The Bears looked to carry over that goal-scoring knack into a key Ivy League match against Harvard on Saturday. Although the team did get some quality chances, they could not capitalize, and ultimately fell to the Crimson, 1-0, in overtime.
Following an evenly matched first half, in which each team collected six shots, the Bears began to pick up their offensive attack. They came within inches of scoring a goal in the 70th minute, as midfielder Gina Walker '11 clanged a shot off the crossbar.
In the second minute of overtime, the goalposts stood in the way of a Brown victory once again. Lesbirel struck a rising, powerful shot from 30 yards out, and Crimson goalkeeper Lauren Mann could only get her fingertips on it. That was enough, though, as the ball careened off the crossbar again, spoiling Bruno's efforts.
Under one minute later, Harvard forward Katherine Sheeleigh ended the affair, as she put away the game winner off a corner kick. The Bears were forced to watch their second straight Ivy League opponent celebrate an overtime win.
Despite the disappointing loss, Pincince felt that the final score did not reflect his team's performance on the field.
"I thought we played very, very well. We followed the game plan, and I'm pleased with the individual and team performance," he said. "In the hunt for the (Ivy) Championship, we need to find a way to win those games."
Brown 2, Holy Cross 2 (2OT)
The Bears' road trip continued at Holy Cross on Tuesday night, as Brown let a 2-0 lead slip away at the Linda Johnson Smith Soccer Stadium.
After another scoreless opening 45 minutes, the Bears got on the board twice in the second half. Sarah Herbert-Seropian '12 opened the scoring in the 55th minute, as she headed a ball into the net off assists from Carly Ruiz '12 and Walker. Team goal-scoring leader Chun headed a second ball past Holy Cross goalie Jessica Stone 14 minutes later, off another corner kick from Walker.
The Bears seemed poised and on their way to victory, but the Crusaders would not go down that easily. A penalty shot goal by senior Shelby Stand shifted the momentum in the 80th minute, and Stand's teammate Liz Early notched the equalizer just five minutes later, pouncing on a loose ball and beating Bears goalie Steffi Yellin '10. In the two overtime periods, Bruno outshot the Crusaders 4-1, but could not beat Stone for a third time.
The Bears wrap up their four-game road trip Sunday at Cornell, before returning home for a Halloween day matchup against the Penn Quakers.
