Buccaneers Women’s Soccer battled hard at their home opener on Thursday, September 3, but ultimately came up short against the Kalamazoo College Hornets.
Calypso Ayoung‘29 put the Bucs on the scoreboard in the ninth minute of the game with a beautiful goal assisted by freshman standout Grace Ramel‘30. The Bucs played solidly throughout the first half, with possessions regularly alternating through both halves of the field.
The Bucs offense struggled especially in the second half, with the only two corner kicks for Beloit coming in the first half. Beloit put up a total of seven shots on goal throughout the whole 90 minutes, with two close shots on target. The Hornets offense eventually dominated the Bucs, but Beloit’s defensive play kept the game as close as possible with good touches by Fianne Makela‘29, Maggie Wood‘30, and captain Zyana Turcios‘28. Notably, Kalamazoo took 17 corner kicks throughout the game, but only two of their four goals were off corners.
Goalkeeper Sophia Dietz‘29 battled especially hard, coming up with seven key saves for the Bucs in key moments in both the first and second halves. Mikayla Campbell‘30 also showcased impressive versatility for the Bucs in the second half, transitioning from fielding and stepping into goal to cover for Dietz for the last 15 minutes of the game. She made the Bucs’ last two saves on the stat sheet.
This year’s women’s soccer team is a young team on average, with no seniors on the roster and five first years starting the field during the opener. They may have run out of gas in the second half, but as they learn to read each other throughout the rest of this season, their cohesive play can only continue to improve. It’s very promising that this year’s entire squad could all return together again next year. The future looks bright for this squad!
Women’s soccer will be back in action at Strong Stadium on Thursday, Sept. 10 for an exciting game versus Rockford University.
Featured image: Kayla Wolff
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