It was a heartbreaker in Glassboro when the Rowan women’s soccer team let up two goals to Stevens within ten minutes of each other, after leading 3-1. The game’s ending felt like the opposite of last year’s tie game against Swarthmore, where Rowan scored a last-minute goal that made the game feel like a win. Today, the game felt like a loss for Rowan.

Throughout the first half, it was a defensive masterclass on both ends, with neither team scoring.

It would be the Rowan Profs who got on the board first, with Olivia Giordano scoring a goal within two minutes of the second half beginning. Her first goal was a header, assisted by Lianna SanFelice. Giordano then scored a second goal just two minutes later.

“After the first one, we had our momentum up,” Giordano said. “We had to work as a team. From the first goal to the second, we had the momentum. Our team was working great with each other. Our team was doing one-two touch, and that is how we play our game. We’ve got to keep doing that.”

Stevens struck with a goal, but the Profs, and more specifically Sara Weideman, responded with another goal.

It seemed as if Rowan was going to win, but those last two goals given up by the defense caused the game to end in a tie.

“I thought we played really well in the starting 15 minutes of each half,” Head coach Scott Leacott said. “Then we just sat back. We went up 2-0, and then we just relaxed. We didn’t clear balls, and we simply didn’t handle things. We made terrible mistakes in the back, which killed us.”

Scoring the goals for the Stevens Ducks was Nicole Angelini, both times kicking just outside the reach of Calista Burke. Burke let up two or more goals in back-to-back games for the first time in her Rowan career.

Last season, the Profs were not challenged much during the regular season. Now, there are takeaways from a tie that felt like a loss for the team.

“After coming off that 2-0 lead, we have to keep our heads,” Giordano said. “We’ve got to play our game and settle down. We have to realize the score, push back, and hold on to our defenders. For next time, we have to work as a team and communicate better.”

The team came into this one very hurt, with a lot of players playing through injury, and team captain Ava Morales not playing due to injury.

“We are playing really banged up right now,” Leacott said. “Three out of our four backs are injured right now. They all played 90 minutes, pretty much. We could have played our depth more; that’s my mistake. We can’t change it now.”

Julianna Giordano got injured in a scary collision last game, while Meghan Kryjer did not play at all in the previous game. Getting those two healthy will be crucial for the team going forward along with Ava Morales. Leacott using his depth will going forward will only help that goal.

The team has its first New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) game this Saturday at home against Rutgers-Newark.

“It is an extremely important game,” Giordano said. “It is the most important game of the season. I am really looking forward to it, because I think we will really progress from there.”

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