Tight Contest Favors Visiting WashU in 1-0 Loss for the Tartans

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - The Carnegie Mellon University women's soccer team collected more opportunities in the 90-minute game with the Washington University in St. Louis Bears on Friday, October 29 but were unable to find the back of the net in a 1-0 loss to the third-ranked to in the nation. The Tartans, ranked 16th, are now 10-4-1 overall and 2-2-1 in the University Athletic Association while the Bears move to 13-0-1 and 5-0.

It wasn't until the 65th minute that the Bears were able to break through the Tartan defense. A corner kick served to the far post was pulled out of the air by a WashU player with the ball then rolling to the defense in front of the goal. The clearance didn't make it past the 18-yard box and Jess Shapiro stepped forward and pushed a right-footed shot to the near post just past graduate student goal keeper Carolyn Botz (St. Louis, Mo. / MICDS) who dove to her left.

The shots were even in the first half with freshman Emma Shirzad (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. / The Benjamin School) putting the first attempt on frame in the seventh minute but it was pushed away by Sidney Conner. Shirzad then had a follow-up attempt that went just wide of the post.

Sophomore Cecelia Dieterich (South Paris, Maine / Oxford) had a shot in the middle of the goal stopped by Conner in the first minute of the second half before Botz made her second save of the game in the 53rd minute.

In the 84th minute the Tartans earned a free kick in their final third of the field but the shot attempt by sophomore Breana Valentovish (Cranberry Township, Pa. / Seneca Valley) was sent over the goal. Junior Rachel Legg (Kansas City, Mo. / Pembroke Hill) had the last attempt of the game but her shot that was low and on target ended with an easy save by Conner in the 88th minute.

The Tartans will next host the University of Chicago, ranked 12th in the nation, on Sunday, October 31 at 11:00 a.m.