Thursday's 1-0 win over the University of Massachusetts marked the 300th win of Phil Pincince's career as head coach of the women's soccer team.
Pincince, who started coaching at Brown in 1977, is in his 36th season with the team. After the game, which improved his current squad's record to 6-1, Pincince received a special plaque commemorating the milestone. He took the opportunity to remember "all the players from my first year at Brown" and onward.
"It's all about them," he said. "It's about what they've done for this Brown women's soccer program."
He is now the 13th winningest coach in the history of Division I women's soccer.
The goal that guaranteed this historic victory came in the second half. Defender Diana Ohrt '13 crossed the ball on a free kick, and it deflected off one of the Minutewomen's defenders before drifting into the goal. The goal came in the 52nd minute and was awarded to Ohrt.
"It was nice to get one in," Ohrt said.
The game was balanced all through the first half. Both teams tried to score on multiple occasions, but neither could infiltrate the other's defense. The Bears were coming off three consecutive shutouts and the Minutewomen off of two.
Pincince said the team "expected (the result) to be by one goal."
One of the best chances of the first half occurred at 25 minutes, when UMass forward Jackie Bruno received the ball alone in the middle of the box and missed a clear opportunity to score by sending it high over the bar.
Two minutes later, on a similar play, Bears' forward Chloe Cross '15 got a pass in the opposite box, but ripped it straight to goalkeeper Emily Cota.
Otherwise, the Minutewomen relied primarily on long-range attempts, and right back Madison Smith's audacious dribbling up her side of the field.
In the second half, while the sun disappeared behind the clouds, Bruno came back with more offensive zeal that culminated in the game-winning goal. In the 46th minute, Cross shot a ball that Cota barely managed to get her fingers on and sent ricocheting off the crossbar. Moments later, captain Eliza Marshall '13 got the rebound and sent it just over the bar.
After suffering its first goal allowed in 11 days, UMass attempted a comeback. They had four menacing shots in the next seven minutes but could not equalize past MC Barrett '14. The Bears once again relied on their defense to conquer the Minutewomen for their fourth straight 1-0 victory.
Coming off of an emotional victory that continued its shutout streak, the Bears look poised for conference play, which begins at Dartmouth Sunday.
"I think we have good, positive energy going into it," Ohrt said. "We definitely have great momentum."
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