Undefeated in MAAC. Conference champions. Big expectations for MAAC Tournament. Heartbreak.
For the second straight year, the women’s soccer team beat Rider in their final regular-season game, only to be upset by them in the first round of the MAAC Tournament. Can you say deja vu? This year, they lost 2-1 in double overtime.
We were stunned and disappointed,” said head coach Maria Piechocki. “I thought we would have learned our lesson from last year, but we didn’t.”
Fairfield earned the first seed in the tournament after going undefeated in the conference, and Rider gained the fourth seed after having a tough regular-season.
Sarah Artale of Rider, for the second year in a row, was the one who put the dagger into the heart of the Stags. Her latest stab was a goal from 16-yards out at the 103:35 mark. Artale had two goals in the upset win, but more importantly, she helped move Rider into the next round of the tournament. Lindsey Pulito, ’04 had the lone goal for the Stags.
I think the pressure got to the team,” said Piechocki. “It came down to us not converting our chances. The longer you let a team like Rider stay in a scoreless game, the more confidence they will gain. And then they scored first, which gave them a huge advantage.
The team was very distraught after this tough loss. Especially after not having any losses in the MAAC during the regular season, and beating Rider a week earlier, 3-0.
“This felt like the biggest upset because it happened last year and we weren’t going to let it happen again, but it did,” said Danielle Della Corna, ’04. “We didn’t play as well as we could have. We had our chances, but we just didn’t convert.”
Kelly Chapple ’04 said the team is dissappointed, but is pleased with the team’s performance during the year.
“This loss really hurts a lot,” Chapple said. “But this year we had a lot more to show than last year. We won the regular season, and we are proud of that.”
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