MOON TOWNSHIP– The RMU women’s soccer team (3-6-1, 1-1) dropped their second NEC game of the season on Sunday by a final score of 1-0 against the Bryant Bulldogs (5-3-2, 3-0-1). Though the Colonials led the game in shots, they struggled to keep possession against the Bulldogs, who got the majority of good chances throughout the game.

The first half was a battle between two very different styles of offense. The Colonials got some early chances by playing a quick, up-tempo style offense, focusing on getting shots towards the net. This ended up working in Bryant’s favor, however, as they dominated possession throughout the first half, using a slower, methodical style of offense. Both sides traded chances through most of the first half before Bryant had a free kick chance in the 38th-minute. After the initial shot was blocked, a second chance deflected off of multiple people in the box and found its way behind keeper Sydney Bruckner; where a Bryant player put it into the net. However, after the referees conferred with each other, the goal was disallowed due to offsides.

Though the Colonials would catch a break on that one, their luck wouldn’t last very long. Bryant came right back two minutes later as Becca Michaud attempted a cross that deflected off of an RMU defender and past Bruckner, making the score 1-0.

Coach Kowalski said that the play was a “little bit of a miscommunication” that reminded him of this same exact thing happening in their game against Akron as well. He told the team to not get discouraged by the incident, to focus on “winning some balls in [the] midfield…take the momentum away from [Bryant].”

RMU came out strong at the beginning of the second half, but their initial momentum was ground to a halt with some solid Bryant defense. Bryant continued controlling possession, and their pressure led to a penalty kick opportunity after a handball was called in the box. Jamie Irwin took the shot for Bryant but was turned away by Bruckner. The save seemed to swing the momentum in RMU’s favor, but only for a few minutes before things stabilized for Bryant. Any attack RMU created would be quickly diffused and they struggled to shut down the Bryant attack, largely created throughout the game by forward Remi Manna who led Bryant with four shots in the match.

Despite some late pushes, the Colonials were unable to get one past keeper Meghan Dalton, as the score stayed 1-0. Despite the loss, coach Kowalski felt that the Colonials “kept the game even” though they failed to convert their opportunities. On getting better chances, coach simply said that the Colonials needed to “[put] more people in the box…we would have one or two players there, but three or four others not doing that.”

RMU drops to 1-1 in conference play with today’s loss, and they will look to get better chances in the next game. The Colonials’ next match will be against Wagner (3-6-1, 1-0-1) in their first away match of NEC play.