Walker Preserves Tie Versus Mules
SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- Garnet senior goalkeeper Lauren Walker '09 made several acrobatic saves to earn the road-weary Swarthmore women's soccer team a 1-1 double overtime tie with Centennial rival Muhlenberg on a cool night at Clothier Field.
With the tie, the Garnet (8-3-1, 4-1-1 CC) take over sole possession of second place in the Centennial Conference standings. Defending champion Johns Hopkins (18 points) leads the race, followed by Swarthmore (13), F&M (12), Ursinus (12) and Muhlenberg (10).
The Muhlenberg/Swarthmore annual match recently turned into one of the fiercest rivalries in the Conference. After nine consecutive victories by the Mules, the Garnet picked up two over time wins in 2006 and 2007.
The Mules (8-3-2, 3-1-1 CC) struck first on Wednesday night as freshman midfielder Jamie Weiss notched her first goal of the season in the 33rd minute. Weiss who had checked into the match just two minutes earlier, re-directed a shot from classmate Nicolette Miller into the top left corner.
Muhlenberg held the 1-0 lead into the intermission, as well as a 5-3 shot advantage.
Several factors dragged on the Garnet spirit in the first half. The team spent the past weekend in southern California, played a talented Redlands squad on Monday night and arrived back in Philadelphia just after midnight on Wednesday morning. Head coach Todd Anckaitis held a brief walk-thru on Wednesday afternoon and found an exhausted and wounded squad before him. At halftime of the match Wednesday night, Anckaitis again urged his weary women to overcome. The message was echoed by the Garnet seniors Cait Mullarkey (Wilmington, Del. / Ursuline Academy) and Walker (Fallston, Md. / The Hotchkiss School [CT]), who implored their teammates to continue to fight through the obstacles. Mullarkey has been the vocal leader of the team since she set foot on campus but it was the urging of the soft-spoken Walker that brought life to the team on the clear fall night.
Walker backed up her words at the start of the second half, thwarting an excellent Mules’ scoring chance in the 59th minute. Muhlenberg caught the Garnet off-guard with a short corner kick and junior midfielder Kasey Hacker blistered a shot toward the far corner. Walker lunged to her right and pushed the shot wide to preserve the one-goal defecit.
The Swarthmore offense charged up the other end of the field and played a serve into the center of the Mules’ penalty box. The ball bounced around a cluster of players before Swarthmore sophomore midfielder Elizabeth Mills (San Diego, Calif. / The Bishop’s School) deposited it into the net at 63:10 for her team-leading seventh goal of the season.
Walker came up big again 10 minutes later, pushing a rolling Muhlenberg shot over the cross bar. She totaled a season-high eight saves on the night as the teams battled 110 minutes towards the draw.
Muhlenberg goalie Kate Morrissey also played well between the pipes, making three saves including a one-handed stop of a deep chance by Garnet midfielder Julia Luongo (Tallahassee, Fla. / Leon) in the 89th minute.
The Garnet have a week to heal before traveling north to Collegeville, Pa. for a 7:00 p.m. match with Ursinus on Wednesday, Oct. 22. Swarthmore will look to exact revenge on the Bears (5-6-1, 4-2 CC), who bounced the Garnet from the 2007 Centennial playoffs in penalty kicks.
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