Liam Sample
The Plattsburgh Women’s Soccer Team (2-1-2) fell on the road to the Middlebury Panthers (3-1-0) 3-0 Wednesday afternoon for their first loss of the season.
An aggressive start to the game led Middlebury forwards, Eliza Van Voorrhis and Simone Ameer, to each score in the first 20 minutes of the game. At the 59 minute mark, Elizabeth Peebles buried one top-shelf for her second of the season. This Produced a 3-0 lead that would be held for the remainder of play.
The Cardinals, reputable for their high offensive power causing eight goals in their first four games, were contained to a season- low of twelve shots. Starting goalkeeper Julia Ennis said. “Middlebury has always been one of our tougher opponents. I think weh;ed them on the defensive side and were unlucky on the attacking end.”
She played just over 72 minutes stopping two and allowing three. Freshman Payton Couture, making her first appearance of her collegiate career, saved two and played 17:45 shoutout minutes.
Plattsburgh had their fair share of chances. Senior kirsten Villemaire attempted seven shots, adding to her team leading twenty-five on the year. This included big shots in “crunch time;” tallying two within the last five minutes of the first half and the final shot of the second.
This loss ends the Cardinals four game undefeated streak to start the season. This setback comes at a turning point of the season, with 9 of their next 11 being SUNY conference games. “Overall I think matchups like Midlebury give us a good sense of where we stand heading into the conference games and I am optimistic about how we will [perform] in SUNYAC play, ‘’ the netminder said.
“We know that the key to being successful this season will be looking to work as a unit both offensively and defensively. I think we lost sight of that briefly against Middlebury.”
The team hopes to work as a unit as they travel to face Saratoga to face the 3-1 Skidmore Thoroughbreds in a non conference match Saturday at 1 p.m.
