In a rip-roaringly emotional thrill of a home contest against Monmouth College in Midwest Conference play, Grinnell women’s soccer yielded to a 0-0 draw following two second-half goals recalled due to violations.
The game was unusually lively, with both rowdiness from the crowd, a particularly vocal bench, and confusion expressed towards the referee from Grinnell’s head women’s soccer coach, Kirsten Koester.
The team outshot Lawrence 15-6, with a 6-2 edge in shots on goal. The first disallowed goal came after Sarah Travis `27’s corner kick fell to Rama Joshi `27, who scored with a shot on goal, yet the referee declared foul — he said Monmouth’s sophomore goalkeeper, Izzy Seipold, had control of the ball. The second disallowed goal was scored by Keiko Smith `26, co-captain, but was wiped out due to a foul on Emily Roesler `28.
Before the first period, Grinnell men’s soccer goalkeeper Jack Alexander `29 said he anticipated an exciting home game following Saturday’s first conference game of the season at Lawrence University. “We’ve seen a few of their games and we think they’re in a good spot for the season,” he said of the women’s team, on behalf of the men’s team.
Despite their 2-0 loss against Lawrence, the second goal came as a “very late penalty,” according to Alexander.
Koester said, “I think that goal we scored off the corner being called back stings even more because we had an equalizer on Saturday against Lawrence — that there was also this like phantom foul that none of us saw happen, and we scored a goal and got it called back, and so it’s just an example of how playing sports really plays with your emotions.”
Peyton Dixon `27, Grinnell’s goalkeeper, posted two saves, one during each period. Of the season, this is Dixon’s fourth shutout and 22nd of her career.
The team fought fiercely despite the draw — Smith registered four shots on goal, Amelia Dueñas `26 and Teya Lochridge `29 each had three, Maya Mozena `28 had two, and Travis, Joshi and Campbell Swaim `28 each respectively got one.
“It’s tough when you have so many shots on goal, and you have so many opportunities, and it’s tough to like, maintain composure, especially when you have so many questionable calls,” said Travis, expressing the team’s frustration. “We had two that were recalled, one that went on the scoreboard — yeah, it was mine. So when you have two goals recalled and the game ends 0-0 against a team we should have beat, for lack of better terms, it’s disappointing.”
“It takes awhile to really understand how badly you have to want it in order to make a game like this turn from a tie to a win,” Koester said. “That’s just something that’s learned over time as you build that pride in your program and want to play hard for your teammates, and as those relationships get stronger and stronger, we play harder for one another, and I think that was a critical element of today’s game.”
Both Koester and Travis left with an air of ambition. “If there’s any silver lining, I hope that’s it,” said Koester.
Travis echoed her sentiment, “Still finding the good and finding that there were so many plays, and we can build off of that from our conference.”
This Saturday, Oct. 4, Grinnell will face Ripon College at home at 11 a.m., in what looks to be a sunny senior day.
