Worcester, MA- The Worcester Women's Soccer team started their 2022 season this evening on the road with a 4-0 loss against the Wheaton Lyons.
The first half was a back-and-forth battle between the two teams, with the Lancers defense maintaining a solid wall of pressure on Wheaton cutting short the multiple offensive opportunities in the box. Worcester had a number of good looks during the first 45-minutes after some solid passing through the middle opened up some chances for Michaela O'Brien, Erin Condon and Kristen Beidleman to put one in the back for Worcester, but the Lyons defense was able to reset all after some pressure from the Lancers. Wheaton felt the heavy intensity of Worcester with shots consistently going wide and communication breakdowns that led to a few near scores, the most dangerous in the 22nd minute when Haley Samara's shot hit the cross bar, and the first real chance either team had seen all night. The Lyons returned the pressure minutes later with a straight shot on cage that was wrapped up by freshman Mallory Dupuis.
Wheaton was finally able to crack the Lancers defense halfway through the first when Sadie Recht slid the ball just past Dupuis from the left corner of the box. It was quickly followed up two minutes later with a burst down the field by Kate Wickenheiser who sent the ball to the top right corner of the goal, just out of reach of Dupuis. Wheaton continued the scoring drive with 12 minutes left in the first half with a shot outside the box that sailed over the Worcester State defense into the back of the net. The Lancers managed to settle for the rest of the half, forcing Wheaton into their defense end but were unable to capitalize on the chances.
The Lancers managed to finally find the right combination 15 minutes into the half when Samara connected with a pass from Condon to get a goal on the board. Following another threat, this time by Raelyn Callahan, the Lyons pushed up the field to find their fourth goal and second for Wickenheiser. Though there were some chances for the Lancers they were unable to connect with the back of the net for the remainder of the game falling 4-1 to the Lyons.
Dupuis finished the game with five saves on the night in full game action.
Worcester State, who were ranked third in the preseason coaches' poll, fall to 0-1, while Wheaton moves to 1-0 on the season. The Lancers are back in action on September 3rd when they travel to Clark University for an 11am start.