MOUNT BERRY, Ga. - Despite a valiant effort, the Berry College women's soccer team saw their season come to an end against the Rhodes College Lynx in the first round of the SAA Tournament on Thursday night at Bob Pearson Field.
After both teams were held scoreless through regulation and two extra time periods, the Lynx advanced to the semifinals on penalty kicks 3-1. The Vikings finish their season with a final record of 8-7-2, while the Lynx will take on Trinity tomorrow evening at 6 p.m.
Offense was at a premium in this game thanks to stellar play by both defenses. While Rhodes outshot Berry 7-4 in the first half, each team had three shots on goal through the first 45 minutes of action.
Kate Hill and the backline of
Annie Connors,
Anne Adams, and
Aubrey Strickland managed to keep the opposing offense quiet, and the Vikings did just enough on the offensive end to keep the pressure off their defense.Â
The teams went into halftime still in a scoreless draw and as a result both teams turned up the intensity in the second half. They each had six shots in the half but the Vikings managed to control the ball and get greats looks to potentially break the tie. Strickland and
Lyndi Voyvodic had shots on goal in the 52nd and 56th minute that were saved by Lynx goalkeeper Gabi Garza, but their best opportunity in regulation came in the final 10 minutes. At 80:26,
Gianna Maimone danced around the defense and gained enough separation to fire a shot towards the net but it just missed high over the crossbar.Â
On the other end of the field, the Berry defense and midfield made life difficult for Rhodes to find many quality shots. They held Rhodes without a shot on goal until the 79th minute, and after holding off a late surge in the final few minutes, the game went into extra time.
The Vikings controlled the pace in the first extra time by taking all three shots but failed to score. The second period of extra time was way more hectic. Each team took five shots and had several chances to end the game before time expired. Voyvodic got the ball rolling with an excellent look at 101:15 that was stopped by Garza, and then Connors and
Giselle Aitken followed suit with shots on goal that were also saved.
After that surge from Berry, Rhodes responded with an avalanche of their own. Maddie Carter had back-to-back clean shots at the net that were both saved by Hill, and then Annie Cimino hit the post on a shot in the 106th minute. Eventually the clock ran out and the game went into penalty kicks.
The Lynx converted on three of their four penalty kicks, while the Vikings only converted on one of their four chances. That gave Rhodes the victory and a spot in the SAA Semifinals.
Despite the loss, the Vikings gave and incredible effort and left it all out there on the field. Both teams finished 18 total shots but Berry slightly edged out Rhodes in shots on goal 10-9. They also had eight players record over 95 minutes of action. Aitken led the Vikings with five total shots, and tied Connors and Voyvodic for the team lead in shots on goal (2). Hill was once again excellent in net with nine saves.
The SAA Semifinals games are scheduled for tomorrow, November 6 at Bob Pearson Field. First, Sewanee will take on Trinity at 3 p.m. and then Rhodes will match up against Centre at 6 p.m. The winners of those two games will square off for the SAA Championship on Sunday, November 8 at noon.
