Women's Soccer Falls To No. 17 Trinity

Women's Soccer Falls To No. 17 Trinity

GEORGETOWN, Texas – The Southwestern University Pirates women's soccer team was shutout by the 17th-ranked Trinity University Tigers, falling 3-0.

Playing against a nationally ranked team, the Pirates competed defensively in the first half with four saves from Mary Cardone to hold the Tigers to a single goal from Chelsea Cole at the 21:29 mark.

The Pirates had an opportunity to tie the game just before the half when Mallory Harkins broke free and was fouled by Trinity's Kaity Ward. Unfortunately, Southwestern failed to capitalize with Harkins' penalty kick bouncing harmlessly off the crossbar.

With the offense generating only a single shot attempt, the Pirates' defense eventually buckled under the stress; failing to mark the Tigers' Madison Horner, who found the back of the net at the 54:30 mark. Almost 14 minutes later, Cole found Alex Walsh in a crowd following a corner kick for Trinity's third goal of the night.

"We're still figuring things out but we've got to do a better job of competing for the full 90 minutes," Southwestern Head Coach Linda Hamilton said. "We really have to learn to focus for a full 90 minutes. It's a cruel game. You can play great for 88 minutes and still lose a match in two minutes."

The Pirates were outshot 22-1 with Cardone finishing with 11 saves on 14 shots on goal. The shutout was Trinity's ninth of the season with the only goals scored against the Tigers coming in a 2-0 loss to Hardin-Simmons University.

With the loss, the Pirates drop to 5-4 on the season and 3-2 in conference play. Trinity improves to 9-1-1 and remains undefeated in conference play with an 8-0 record. Southwestern will hit the road for a conference game against Centenary College (1-10-2) in Shreveport, Louisiana. Southwestern and Trinity will meet again on Oct. 23 in San Antonio.