The Holy Cross College women’s soccer team recently played the Olivet women’s team in their opening round of the CCAC tournament.
The last time the two squads played, Olivet was able to defeat the Saints 0-3. Armed with a new strategy, the Saints hoped to shut down the Olivet offense, forcing turnovers to generate scoring chances.
Unfortunately for the Saints, things did not go according to plan.
Olivet was able to shoot early and often, taking 10 shots in the first half alone. The Saints were only able to shoot once, with senior midfielder Olivia Shaw taking the shot in the 26th minute.
Holy Cross sophomore goalie Taylor Primack faced four shots on goal in the first half, and she turned away all but one, which came in the 38th minute (scored by Olivet’s Annabel Murley). That 1-0 margin was the halftime score.
The Saints opened up the half with some early shots, but both missed the net. Olivet’s first shot of the half found twine, with Alaina Bahr assisting Olivia Lorenc for the score.
The Saints generated more offense in the second half than they did in the first, taking nine of their ten total shots.
However, Olivet’s goalie, Tessa Kowalski, shut out the Saints, and the Tigers would win 2-0.
Saints battled adversity to reach tournament
The Saints failed to earn either of the conference’s two automatic bids to the NAIA tournament and are unlikely to qualify for an at-large bid.
Instead, the Saints will finish their season with a 6-6-7 record overall and a 5-5-3 record in conference play.
The Saints had two notable bright spots this year, making history in two different ways. The team went 1-0-3 in an unbeaten non-conference regular season, which was a program first.
The Saints also saw senior midfielder Lauren Cernak break both the goal and assists records for the program. By setting those two records, Cernak earned 100 career points and became the career points leader for the program.
Though the season ended earlier than the team had hoped, the women’s season was able to battle through difficult injury problems, rallying late in the season to make the conference tournament.
Contact Tom at tzwiller@hcc-nd.edu.
