The women’s soccer team has not lost to the University of Rhode Island since 2007, and it continued its winning streak Sunday afternoon in a 5-0 shutout victory over the in-state rival. The win was the Bears’ most lopsided victory against URI since 1994 and marked their second win in a week.
“It was a great performance (and) good result,” said Head Coach Kia McNeill. “The past few games, we’ve been able create a lot of opportunities, but we weren’t necessarily converting on the back end. It was nice that we were able to put the final pieces together today and put a few in the back of the net.”
The Bears (3-4-1) started the contest as the more aggressive team, earning a header, corner kick and free kick in the first five minutes. As the half continued and both squads settled in, Bruno continued to dominate possession of the ball. In the twelfth minute, Bridget Stokdyk ’22 launched a point-blank shot mere feet from the goal, but the Rams (1-8-1) were able to make an impressive save to keep the contest knotted at zero.
Brown continued to control possession and methodically push the ball down the field, while limiting the Rams’ threats to quick counter-attacks. The Bears had recorded four shots on goal before the Rams could notch one in the eighteenth minute.
Even though the Bears had a firm grasp on the pace of play throughout the first half, they could not convert any of their golden opportunities. But in the thirty-third minute, Bruno earned a corner kick, and Maesyn G’Bye ’22 launched the ball directly into the box to set up Sydney Cummings ’21 for a header. Cummings soared above the defense and was able to knock the ball through the pipes for the opening score.
“It’s really important to put the first one away early and just build that momentum,” Cummings said. “We’ve been struggling to score, so I was happy that I could start the run of five goals.”
Just seven minutes later, G’Bye pushed toward the net and flicked the ball high up into the air. Charlotte Devaughn ’22 was able to locate the high pass and head the ball over the reach of the Rams’ netminder and into the left corner of the net to put the Bears up 2-0.
Bruno’s dominance in the first half was evident in its stats: At halftime, the Bears led in shots 11-1 and corner kicks 5-0.
In the second period, the Bears picked up right where they left off, earning several opportunities off of aggressive plays in the opening moments of the half. In the forty-seventh minute, Star White ’21 controlled the ball in the center of the field and edged away from her marker. White rocketed a spectacular shot from the top of the goal box that curved over the defense and through the top left corner of the net.
Just four minutes later, Abby Carchio ’20 added to the scoring with a goal of her own to extend the Bears’ lead to four. Zoe Maxwell ’22 pushed the ball into the Rams’ zone in the fifty-eighth minute and was able to earn an opportunity and score on a powerful shot to put the Bears ahead 5-0, the final score of the match.
“We had a lot of different goal-scorers today, which I think shows some of the threats that we have in the attacking third,” McNeill said. “So it’s definitely a good confidence builder to start heading into the Ivy play in the next two games.”
When the final whistle sounded, the Bears led the Rams in shots 19-4 and corner kicks 9-3. The team seeks to ride this powerful momentum into the start of Ivy League play against Dartmouth this Saturday.
“This was a really important win to build our confidence,” Cummings said. “Saturday is the real test. Dartmouth is always a hard competitor, so it this game is really important to keep the momentum going.”
The Bears will return to Stevenson-Pincince Field to play the University of Massachusetts Lowell Tuesday at 7 p.m.
