Sometimes, there are just no words for a game like this.
Entering Saturday's game undefeated in MIAA play, Saint Mary's was upset 4-1 by Olivet College, dropping them out of first place in the conference and leaving them wondering what went wrong.
"I don't even know what to say. I'm speechless," sophomore Ashley Hinton said. "We didn't look like ourselves out on that soccer field. We didn't come out and play well."
The Belles trailed for most of the game, and after tying the game at 1-1 midway through the first half, they allowed three unanswered goals to close out the game. The only bright spot came when senior Katie Noble received a corner kick and managed to slip the ball around a large group of players for a goal.
"Olivet just took it to us," said Hinton. "They knew that we were one of the better teams, and they just brought their game."
The Belles entered the game having given up the least amount of goals in the MIAA conference, but they had no answer Saturday for sophomore Stacey Stickney, who scored all four goals for Olivet College. Olivet was 1-2 entering the game, but displayed an unexpected dominance over the Belles.
"It just proves that on any given day, any MIAA team can come out and play a great game," Hinton said. "Being in first place in the conference, we've got a target on our back. Every team that faces us is going to want to beat us. The MIAA is such a strong conference that no matter what place a team is in, no team can be taken lightly."
Although the loss is certainly demoralizing, the players recognized the fact they had an off day.
"It definitely wasn't like we entered this game unprepared," Hinton said. "We were shocked throughout the game, but we never gave up at any point. We just couldn't find the net.
"As hard as we tried, the shots just weren't falling." Rather than dwell on Saturday's mistakes, the Belles will instead look forward to focus on a big upcoming week.
"We want to shake off this loss and move forward. We've got a big week coming up, and we need to set our sights on that. We'd like to stay real positive and come ready to play for every game for the rest of the year."
Though the Belles can no longer achieve their goal of going undefeated in MIAA play, they still have high hopes for winning their conference.
"We still feel confident for the rest of the MIAA season," Hinton said. "We need to just learn from this and move on. We've got to come out strong for Hope and Calvin and redefine what we want to do in this conference."
