Lions Tie Ivy Opener, Defeat Wagner

The women's soccer team's matches this weekend were filled with shots and saves. For the Lions, lots of scoring and opportunistic play led them to a draw and win against Brown and Wagner.

Junior goalkeeper Allison Vespa made ten saves, including seven in the second half, to preserve a scoreless draw with the Bears on Friday night in Providence. The tie gave the Lions an important point in the standings against a Brown team that briefly broke into the national top 25 earlier this season.

The match was a shootout from the start. The Bears fired eight shots at Vespa in the first half, getting three on target. A fourth shot in the 31st minute hit the crossbar, but the Lions' defense cleared it to keep the match scoreless.

Senior striker Shannon Munoz had the Lions' two best-scoring chances of the first half. In the sixth minute, she had a one-on-one breakaway against Brown keeper Brenna Hogue, only to have her shot saved by Hogue from point-blank range. Munoz had another breakaway in the eighth minute only to be stopped by a clean slide-tackle from a Brown defender.

The second half featured more offense, as Brown blitzed Columbia with 15 shots on goal. The Lions responded with five shots of their own and forced Hogue to make three saves.

During the two overtime periods, the Lions clamped down on the Bears' offense and did not give up a shot. They nearly won the match on two occasions. In the 97th minute, senior Bailey Schroeder fired a high shot off a corner kick that Hogue barely tipped to clear the ball. The Lions regained possession and senior Aubrey Medal fired another shot on goal, but Hogue denied this one as well.

The draw gave the Lions their fourth Ivy point of the season despite being outshot 26-11 and being called for 18 fouls. The Light Blue now are in sole possession of third place in the league, two points behind co-leaders Dartmouth and Yale.

The Lions responded quickly from the Brown draw with a 3-0 rout of Wagner on Sunday afternoon.

The Lions faced a Wagner team that had lost its first nine matches. The Light Blue extended that streak to ten games with a hail of shots toward the Seahawks' goal. The Lions tallied 31 shots in the match, putting nine on goal.

In the 40th minute, freshman Alana Presslaff settled a ball that the Seahawks cleared from the penalty area. Presslaff then blasted a 35-yard shot over the head of Wagner goalkeeper Ashley Wilson into the net for a 1-0 lead. It was Presslaff's first collegiate tally.

Just two minutes later, freshman Ashley Mistele added her first collegiate goal. After a run down the right side of the field, Mistele controlled a pass from freshman Jenny Brandt and took an 18-yard shot. The ball caromed off the post and into the goal to put the Lions ahead 2-0 entering halftime.

Munoz finished the scoring early in the second half with her third goal of the season. In the 57th minute, Munoz took a pass from freshman Sophie Reiser and fired a 15-yard shot past substitute goalkeeper Leslie Reed to put the Lions up by three goals.

Despite not picking up a win against Brown, senior midfielder Emma Judkins still thought that the weekend had been a success for the Lions.

"We played strong, and we played well," she said. "We won in every minute of every game. We were just very unfortunate. We should have scored more goals, but we stayed relentless."

The women's soccer team will return to action this Saturday night in Philadelphia against Penn. Following that, they will return home for a crucial three-match home stand that will include perennial Ivy powers Princeton and Dartmouth.