The women's soccer team experienced a week of mixed success with a dramatic victory followed by a disappointing conference loss.
Last Thursday night at Stevenson Field, goalie Brenna Hogue '10 led the Bears to a 1-0 shutout over Army. Hogue's quest for her ninth career shutout was in danger early in the game, as Army midfielder Elizabeth Betterbed stung a shot past the goalie off a corner kick in the 29th minute. But Sylvia Stone '11 was in position on the goal line, and she blocked the shot to keep the score at 0-0.
After an evenly-matched first half, the Brown offense began to dominate the field in the final 45 minutes, outshooting their opponents 14-9. The Bears' constant, pressing attack paid off just three minutes before the final whistle, as Joyce Chun '11 came up big with her first career goal. Sarah Hebert-Seropian '12 started the deciding rush when she intercepted an Army pass and delivered the ball to Marybeth Lesbirel '12. Lesbirel crossed to Chun, who booted the ball past Army's Alex Lostetter.
Head Coach Phil Pincince was proud of his team's ability to pull out the win.
"We were very happy with the team on Thursday against Army," Pincince said. "We battled the entire time, and I thought it was going to be a real close game. We found a way to win."
The Bears went into their Ivy League opener against Dartmouth on a winning streak, coming off the late winner against Army and two straight shutout victories. But the team was unable to continue their winning ways on a slick Stevenson Field Sunday afternoon.
The Dartmouth women came out firing, outshooting Brown, 8-0, in the first 18 minutes. Despite pulling ahead on a Stone goal in the 21st minute — just the Bears' second shot — Brown continued to struggle on the offensive end. They were outshot 26-8 by the Big Green overall, who scored the tying goal just three minutes after Stone's goal, helping Dartmouth to a 3-1 victory.
"I don't think we brought our A game," said Pincince. "We didn't match the intensity or emotion that Dartmouth brought to the table. All in all, on Sunday against Dartmouth, they were the better team."
The Bears (2-5-0, 0-1-0 Ivy League) can't linger on their tough loss for too long, as they travel to Columbia (4-4-1, 1-0-0 Ivy) on Saturday for another key conference matchup. Pincince noted Columbia's recent result, a 1-0 victory over Cornell, as an example of the overall competitiveness in the Ivy League this season.
"When you get into conference, anything goes," he said. "The Ivy is so tight this year. (Columbia's victory) just goes to show that everything is going to be so close. If you don't show up to play, there're gonna be upsets all through the year."
