Avery Martin- Contributor
The defeat shadowed a tough and rainy game at Jess Dow Field as the Owls fell 12-5 to their Elm City rivals the University of New Haven Chargers on Wednesday, April 3.
Attackers Kirsten McIntire, a senior, and Allie Palmer, a sophomore, each had two goals and two points to lead the offense on the drenched field. Midfielder Anna Meserve, a freshman, had one goal and one point.
“I think we just need to come out stronger from the beginning. We have to be confident and know we can beat teams like this, and we just need to remember the film we watched and play together,” Meserve said.
The first two periods were dominated by the Chargers, but the Owls caught up in the last two.
To start the game, Meserve scored her goal with eight minutes left in period one. Before halftime, McIntire scored her first goal off an assist by attack Morgan Reilly, a junior.
The third period started with Palmer’s unassisted goal. In period four, Palmer scored her second goal off an assist by attack Savannah Feinberg, a senior, while McIntire scored the Owls’ last goal of the day with an assist by midfielder Amelia Mansfield, a junior.
“We really competed in the second half, but I think if you just get rid of those first few mistakes in the first half it is a completely different game,” McIntire said.
Despite the comebacks and goals in the second half, it was the mistakes in the first half that ultimately sank the game. Both the players and the coaching staff say improving on this weakness is key to improving the overall team performance.
Head Coach Kevin Siedlecki encouraged his athletes to push forward to the next game on Saturday.
“The reason that we are disappointed is that we know we can win that game. We know we are good enough,” Siedlecki said. “We need to find the heart that we had in the second half and show up fired up to play.”
Despite the dark spots, Siedlecki was quick to shout out some things that were done well.
“We know that we are good enough; they just outplayed us,” Siedlecki said. “We showed a lot of heart in the second half. We stayed in it; we stayed competitive; we didn’t let them run away with it.”
McIntire also said that a firm focus on offense would be key to improving game results.
“I think just doing a better job of sticking to our plan, and just playing for a full 60 minutes,” McIntire said.
The team’s record now stands at 7-4 overall and 2-3 in conference games.
Their next home game will be on April 10 against NE10 competitor American International College.
