The women's soccer team beat Holy Cross, 4-1, in its long-awaited return to Stevenson Field this Wednesday. After a six-game road trip, the Bears were eager to play on their home turf once again. The Bears fell behind, 1-0, in the first half, but Kiki Manners '10 tied the score in the 35th minute of play. Her goal ignited an offense explosion later in the second half with two goals by Marybeth Lesbirel '12 and another by Kellie Slater '10.
While the final score indicates a blowout, the first half of play was quite even. Brown was unable to string together its attacks. The team was not playing "as smart as they should have," said Head Coach Phil Pincince. "The team was making poor decisions."
Holy Cross struck first, scoring off a rebound in the 20th minute.
"We weren't doing the little things," said tri-captain Lindsay Cunningham '09.
From that point on Brown's backfield out-played Holy Cross. The Bears controlled the ball throughout the first half, and despite the Crusader's goal, Brown continued to dominate possession for the majority of the game. Just ten minutes before the end of the first half, Manners tied the match at 1-1. Manners found herself in the right position to put in a rebound off the foot of Cunningham. Neither team scored for the rest of the half, and the score remained tied as the teams headed into the locker room.
After reflecting upon their first struggles in the first half during halftime, the Bears came back to the game ready to play. "We played simple soccer, played smarter," Pincince said. "That's been our forte all year."
Brown's goalkeeper, tri-captain Brenna Hogue '10, kept Holy Cross from scoring in the second half. Hogue managed to stop three shots on goal throughout the rest of the game making two key stops for the Bears in the 59th and 72nd minutes of play. The last shot on goal for the Crusaders was the last real threat for the remainder of the game.
Each team took ten shots in the second half, but the shots on goal for the entire game heavily favored the Bears, 10-4. The second-half scoring began in the 68th minute when Silvia Stone '11 sent a pass to Lesbirel from 25 yards out, nailing the upper left corner of the goal. Fewer than two minutes later, Lesbirel connected again for a nearly identical goal off an assist by Slater.
"We had to pick up the intensity," said Lesbirel. "Scoring became an easier thing when we stuck with our game plan."
Slater put away the final goal for the Bears with 14 minutes remaining, finishing off the Crusaders 4-1. Slater beat two defenders before launching her shot out of the reach of the Holy Cross goalkeeper for her first goal of the season.
Brown improved its record to 4-3-2. After a string of six away games, the Bears are off to a great start winning the first of the three home games they have in the next week. The Bears will get another chance to defend their home field this Saturday at 7:00 p.m. against Columbia in the team's first Ivy League home game.
