WEST POINT, N.Y. - The Marist women's soccer team was defeated by Hudson Valley rival Army 1-0 in the team's final non-conference game of the regular season. In an evenly matched game, an early goal by Army (7-2-2) in the 22nd minute proved to be all that the Black Knights would need in defeating Marist (5-4-0). Sophomore Rycke Guiney (Naperville, Ill.) was the team's top offensive threat as she took eight shots, including two on goal.
The game began with an Army feel as the Black Knights started off with multiple strong possessions deep in Marist's defensive zone. Their best opportunity came off of an Errin Helbling cross, that Marist's junior goalkeeper Caitlin Landsman (Burke, Va.) cut off in mid-air.
After ten minutes of action where Army held possession for the majority of the time, Marist's offense started taking shape. Quick one-touch passing between Kathryn Hannis (Bloomsbury, N.J.), Amanda Epstein (Jericho, N.Y.) and Jackie Frey (Monroe, N.Y.) began to pressure the Black Knights. In a matter of two minutes, Guiney and Epstein registered shots.
The hard work that the Red Foxes had put in to equal the time of possession and scoring opportunities went away quickly in the 22nd minute as Army's Kim An put away a shot from inside the six-yard box into the back of the net off of a bounding free kick, that was deflected multiple times.
Faced with a 1-0 deficit, Marist was determined to find an equalizer. In the 26th minute, junior Chelsea Botta (East Longmeadow, Mass.) took down a long free kick from Guiney and was able to get a shot off from the left wing that unfortunately was blocked by an Army defender. 14 minutes later following a steal by sophomore Samantha Panzner (Livingston, N.J.) the Red Fox offense played the ball around before finding a hard-charging Melanie Rigo (Huntington, N.Y.), who rocketed a shot that missed high towards the goal.
Coming out of half down 1-0, Marist kept up the pressure and intensity in Army's defensive end. 17 seconds into play, Guiney got off a hard shot that Army's keeper Monica Lee snagged. Following two Helbling shots that flew high, the Red Foxes were back on offense. The quick passing of Epstein and Frey helped manufacture offense as they setup up junior Nicole Kuhar's (Oceanview, N.J.) shot on goal in the 56th minute.
In a two minute span of play from the 60th to 62th minute, Marist took three shots, two by Guiney that barely missed the frame and a third by Frey, which Lee denied.
The Red Foxes continued battling back and forth with the Black Knights throughout the rest of the half. Strong goalkeeping by junior Courey Schaetzle (Erie, Pa.) helped keep Marist's deficit at just 1-0. In the 82nd minute she came up with two huge saves, the first being on a one-on-one breakaway to net by An, which she stopped from point blank range.
The team tried valiantly to score the equalizer down the stretch, but Army's defenders and goalkeeper proved up to the task. As a result, after 90 minutes of hard fought action, the Red Foxes had fallen 1-0 and Army collected their eighth shutout in 11 games.
For the game, Marist outshot Army 16-14, though the Black Knights held a 7-4 advantage in shots on goal.
In her relief appearance, Schaetzle finished with five saves.
The Red Foxes' next game will be on Friday, Sept. 30 as they travel to New Rochelle, N.Y. to take on Iona in their MAAC league opener. Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m.
