Women’s Soccer: Tourney Bound

The Providence College Women’s Soccer Team has o cially concluded their regular season play. The team nished with a solid record of 10-7-1, and 5-3-1 in the Big East. Throughout the season, the Friars clinched several big wins causing the team to stand out around campus and throughout the nation.

In the rst half of the season, the Friars remained undefeated over a ve game stretch from Sept. 7 through Sept. 23. On this run, PC claimed victories over Brown University (3- 1), University of Arkansas (4-3), St. Joseph’s University (3-0), University of Massachusetts-Lowell (2-0), and Villanova University (1-0).

  On Oct.8, the Friars made the record books after out playing and out scoring a Big East rival. On Marquette University’s territory, the Friars beat the Golden Eagles for the first time ever in program history.

  A week later, the Friars faced another tough Big East opponent. On Oct. 15, the Friars defeated then No. 15 Georgetown University in the last home game of the regular season. Christina Klaum ‘18 scored in the sixth minute of the first half for the Friars and was the lone scorer for the remaining 84 minutes. Goalkeeper Shelby Hogan ’20 played strong in net and held the No. 1 Big East team to a shutout. Hogan has seen over 1,600 minutes of action, posts a 0.96 goal-against average, and earned a 0.815 save percentage. This game marked Hogan’s shutouts at a high number of six games.

  PC earned a No. 3 seed entering the Big East tournament. Georgetown University and Butler University are ranked first and second respectively and both received a first-round bye to the semi-final games. PC lined up to face the No. 6 seed, DePaul University, in the first round of the Big East Tournament. The two teams battled earlier in the season to a double-overtime draw (0-0) in Providence, Rhode Island on Oct. 19. DePaul then went on to beat Villanova (6-3) on Oct. 22 and St. John’s (1-0) on Oct. 26 and concluded their season.

  The second match-up of the year marked the beginning of the Big East tournament. Both teams gathered at Chapey Field on Oct.29. The game followed a similar pattern of the previous encounter of the two teams, ending the first half tied 0-0. The Blue Demon’s goaltender stopped two shots while Hogan was only tested once. Both teams brought a new energy for the second half. Hannah McNulty’s ’21 header went just  wide of the goal post. Alex Ben of DePaul also missed the net with two shots just over Hogan’s crossbar. In the 78th minute, Amber Birchwell ‘21 poked through DePaul’s defense and passed it over to teammate McNulty. McNulty’s shot hit the back of the net and put the Friars up 1-0.

  With the game dwindling down, the Blue Demons did not let up. Off of a free kick, DePaul tied the game up with less than a minute left. The game spilled into two overtimes both ending in a stalemate. This forced the teams to finish the battle with penalty kicks. PC scored in the first two rounds. DePaul could get only one ball past Hogan in the third round. The Friars beat the Blue Demons with a 2-1 win in penalty kicks.

  This win prolongs the season for the Friars and pushes them ahead to the Big East semi-final game against Butler on Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. at Butler University.