Bridgewater, Va- The Bridgewater women’s soccer team won easily in an ODAC conference match against the Panthers of Ferrum College on Oct. 20 by a score of 5-0.
The Bridgewater College women’s soccer team secured an important victory against Ferrum. They dominated from start to finish displaying lots of skill and teamwork.The Eagles wasted no time on offense as freshman Laura Narby had an early shot on goal in the third minute, though it was expertly saved by Ferrum’s Ashli Wuss.
The Eagles kept up with the pressure, as they earned an early corner kick as well as shots from sophomores Lyric Birkley and Kendall Garza, but the ball could not find the back of the goal. In minute 36th of the game, senior Skyler Daum’s corner kick connected with senior Hannah Nugent in the box for a goal giving the Eagles a 1-0 lead. The Eagles did not stop after that, as a second goal was made by senior Madeline Bohan, extending the Eagles lead to 2-0 going into halftime.
The Panthers came out of halftime with a couple of early chances and a free kick in the Eagles’ half of the field but were not able to come away with a goal. The Eagles did not let up at all in the second half. Birkley, with great composure, scored her second goal of the game just seven minutes into the second half, putting the Eagles up 3-0. Although Ferrum had a chance after the kick off, they played a through ball that ended up being called offsides. The Eagles kept up the intensity in the second half with players including freshman Brynn Dempsey and junior Anna Zurlo making attempts on goal. Zurlo found the rebound off of a shot and scored her first goal of the match, extending the Eagles lead to 4-0.
Even though Ferrum tried to respond with some chances, their shots were blocked by the Eagles’ defense. The Eagles’ offense did not slow down and continued to dominate, with Zurlo scoring her second goal of the game, which gave the Eagles a 5-0 lead. In the closing minutes of the game, the Eagles still had shots on goal, but Ferrum’s goalkeeper, Wuss, was there to make the saves.
Senior Hannah Nugent was very satisfied with the team’s performance, focusing on the importance of continuing to play hard even against weaker opponents.
“The game against Ferrum was a great team win,” said Nugent. “We had goals scored by numerous players, which is always a positive thing. We’re using the energy from that win to bring ourselves into the last week of conference games and finish out strong.”
Senior Katelyn Seagraves pointed to the significance of the win and what it meant for the team and the rest of their season, as it secured their spot in the playoffs. She shows confidence in their momentum going into the last week of the regular season.
“Even though Ferrum isn’t the strongest opponent we’ve faced this season, we still came in strong and played to our standard,” said Seagraves. “This game also secured our spot in the playoffs, so that was great. I think we’ll use this win to keep our momentum going into the last week of the regular season and hopefully come out with two more wins!”
The Eagles next match is on Tuesday, Oct. 31 as they take on the Quakers of Guilford College in the first round of the ODAC tournament.
